Replaceable
by blueueu
Summary: A Jaspearl fanfiction. After a long time of never really speaking, a defective Pearl and Jasper, the gem she works for, have to work together for an important mission that could lead to their destruction and replacement. [On hiatus for personal reasons]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **First chapters of first fanfiction, yaaay. Just a quick disclaimer thing, the Pearl in this isn't intended to be the Pearl in the show, and her personality is still being worked on. Also don't expect fluff right at the beginning *laughs nervously*.**

Life surged through the body. Her eyes opened, salt water filling her mouth as she gasped for air she didn't need. She couldn't see anything. Hands, she had hands. Incredibly place hands. All her limbs were there, all her necessary body parts were there. She sighed with relief. Her hand brushed over her forehead. A complete, oval pearl. Perfect.

Light filled the container she was in, the saltwater draining. She was brought to the ground once it left. Instantly, she stood, glancing round at the other Pearls. They all stood straight, emotionless, only looking forward. The few she saw in front of her all had numbers on the back of their neck. 225, 226, 227, they went that way from left to right. She wondered what her number was.

"It was that one." A monotone voice sad, pointing at her. It was another Pearl, though she worked at the factory.  
"211? What should we do about her?" Another voice said, this one belonging to someone who was much larger.  
"We could take her to..." Their voices faded out, though the bigger gem nodded in agreement. The factory worker left and returned with more Pearls who approached the defective.  
She glanced around, stepping to the back of the container and pressing herself against the glass. The door on the container feel down, arms reaching towards her. They pulled her forward, removing her from the position she tried to hold.  
"She's struggling." One of the Pearl's said, no distress or worry shown in her voice or expression.  
The bigger gem took a Gem Destabiliser from her waist, stabbing it into Pearl's stomach. Her cries were cut off as her body disappeared into her gem.

"She wasn't still? It that honestly so much of a problem?" Pearl awoke to a voice, presumably talking about her. The gem speaking sat in a chair at a desk in front of her.  
"Maybe so, though she could easily be less obedient than the rest."  
"Why don't we find out?" A hand reached out to the defective Pearl, showing that she'd reformed. The other person talking nodded, not seeming too pleased with the idea. "Listen, 211, we can't say you won't be useful right off the bat. How steady are you?"  
Pearl stood up, almost only then noticing what she was clothed. Black leggings, a sleeveless top and a belt with a diamond in the middle.  
"Come on. Walking can't be that hard."  
Pearl was unsure to begin, putting a foot forward and gathering that she only needed to repeat. "No, it isn't. I apologise for my hesitation."  
" _Oh_ , how formal." The bigger gem chuckled, the one sitting at the desk glaring at her.  
"Please, Pearl, summon your weapon."  
"How many?" Pearl was quick to reply, raising curiosity in both gems in front of her.  
"What?" The bigger gem asked, glancing at the sitting gem.  
She smirked. "At once? _Try_ to summon as many as you want. One is the usual if you'd like to go higher."  
Pearl smiled slightly, light escaping her gem as two handles began to appear. The bigger gem's eyes widened. She pulled the two from her gem at the same time, balancing them on her hand to show they were real.  
"Impressive." The sitting gem reached out and picked up one of the spears, examining it.  
"But her emotions will be a problem." The bigger gem added.  
"Well then, Pearl, you shall pretend. I know exactly who you can stay with. Just act like you can't feel, and be sure to do everything you are told to do. I'm sure we canvas your gem destroyed. It's easy to do."

PEARL

She couldn't get used to how clean everything had stayed. Clothes were usually all over the floor, Jasper not really caring about how much mess she was making. It didn't bother Pearl, it happened enough for her to get used to it. Jasper would come in, make a mess, sleep or work out or something along those lines and Pearl would clean up. She took little time doing what she was made to do and soon returned to her own pastimes, only devoting an hour or two to her job.

She never really took interest in Jasper's job, though she had mentioned it a couple of times, whether she was bragging about how she was trusted with such important tasks or complaining that she wanted to beat someone she worked with's face. Pearl found it easier to just completely ignore her and leave her to destroy a punching bag or any other training equipment she owned. She was fine to mind her own business and escape to her own world until she could work without getting in Jasper's way.

Unlike many other Pearls, she had her own room. Being so highly ranked in military areas, Jasper had a decent home. It was almost as if they just lived together, except they rarely talked and Pearl cleaned up after her. She could try to enjoy the tasks she had, though it was hard to enjoy what she didn't get much of. Jasper, ordering armies and such, didn't really tell her to do anything. She payed little to no attention to her, and Pearl was fine with that. There were a few smiles or 'hello's exchanged if Jasper was in a good mood. Pearl liked to remind her that she was there, so she greeted Jasper every morning she was there and every night she returned.

Jasper had never seen her room, and Pearl wanted to keep it that way. The room would probably have been dull and clean if she was just another clone, though she liked to decorate it with faded colours and patterns that complimented each other. Though her room did have some form of bed, she wasn't used to idea of sleeping and didn't intend to get used to it either. Jasper enjoyed it though, and usually did only that after returning from long missions. Even though Pearl didn't understand why it was necessary, she found it interesting that someone just completely shuts down their senses for no particular reason.

She sat outside the window. Nothing interesting happened in the streets. Everyone walked in straight lines, not talking or even looking at anyone else. It was no surprise considering the strict routines they follow. Jasper used warp pads to get around. It was definitely a lot easier than travelling through the streets, but it was mostly because the gem thought she was at a much higher level than those who didn't reach her rank, even if they were close.

About an hour had passed since the time she thought Jasper would return. She had been on a longer mission for about two weeks and had said she'd be back three days ago. Pearl had started taking note of the exact time she'd come back after a while so she'd be able to fit everything into a schedule. Jasper being late back did throw the schedule off, though Pearl wasn't about to assume that it was for no reason. She drummed her fingers on the table, one at a time to create a flowing pattern as she stared into the streets.

The warp activated. Pearl shot up, standing straight and leaving her room, making sure to lock it behind her. An agonising shout was hidden behind a few troubled mumbles. As she was about to greet Jasper, the first thing she saw was the larger gem hunched over, grabbing her side with visible cuts and bruises on her face. The thin gem rushed towards Jasper, holding her arm as she guided her to the table, making her lie across it on her stomach. There were many cuts along her back and side, blood drying in her hair. Pearl tried her best to move the thick mane to the side, attempting to get a better view of the cuts.

Four wounds across her back, presumably made in a swiping motion, and three on her right side, these ones probably intended to be deeper. There were two cuts on the right side and under her right eye and one on her left cheek. Her bottom lip also seemed to have split as well as a cut on her chin, following the left of her jaw line. They weren't healing and she hadn't retreated to her gem. Inspecting the cuts, small pieces of an orange-y crystal could be found. She found it strange that the shards weren't even that big in some places, it was mostly just fragments and dust. Slowly, Pearl began to pull them out the pieces, Jasper howling in pain trying to hit her away.

"Stay still ... Last two, okay? ... Ahh, that-that was the last one." Anything Pearl said was met with a groan or pained expression. Shards sat in a small bowl, most still covered in blood. She summoned bandages from her gem and wrapped them around her cut fingers before aiding Jasper. Pearl wondered what Jasper could have done to end up in this mess.

Dabbing a cut on her lip and chin with a wet cloth, she'd occasionally drain the fabric, grimacing a little at the tinted red water. Now that Jasper wasn't making her pain as obvious, she decided it'd be a good idea to at least try to ask.

"That's... That's a lot of cuts." Pearl began, not sure if it was the best idea to even try to ask.

Jasper grunted irritably. "You going somewhere with this?"

Pearl mentally kicked herself. Subtle. "I was just wandering what happened."

"Why does it matter?"

Pearl could tell that Jasper wasn't happy. She figured that she shouldn't question it, especially after she figured that the shards in her wounds were made of different types of jasper. She guessed it was used to intimidate Jasper by whoever had injured her, though it was hard to assume anything though, knowing little about Jasper's military role meant she knew little about punishments or tasks that could have resulted in, well, _that_.

"I was just... It doesn't matter." She sighed, wrapping her arms around her torso. Pearl was ready to clean up the blood on the table, though just as she hopped off the table she was sitting on, she felt fingers wrap around her arm, not allowing her to leave.

"I failed, okay?" Jasper suddenly burst, not able to look Pearl in the eyes. "I failed a mission that Yellow Diamond really needed me to complete. I failed! And she could of smashed my gem right there. What happens if I fail again? She could've easily just killed me!"

Pearl watched the other's breathing as it began to speed up rapidly. There was anger hiding fear in her expression, her voice, Pearl couldn't blame her for holding back. A silence stole anything Pearl wanted to say as she avoided any eye contact for the longest minute she'd ever lived. Her sigh broke their silence as she looked at Jasper, leaning forward to talk to her.

"It's okay, it'll be-" A hand pushed her back, not allowing her to continue as she was thrown to the side like a toy. Glancing up, she saw Jasper stand, only turning her head slightly to look back at Pearl. The pale gem opened her mouth to speak, though was interrupted before any words could come out.

"Don't talk to me." And then the orange gem disappeared into her room.

Pearl regretted speaking. She discarded the shards, washing the table and cleaning up, though her mind was elsewhere. The area where she had been hit still hurt, though she could only blame herself for asking things that were so personal and knowing that they were. Cleaning never really took her interest, so her mind easily drifted, though the thoughts she had were laced with guilt. Though she hadn't really lost anything, she still felt like she'd made a mistake by being so curious, by caring so much. After glancing over the room, she left to her own.

She could hear Jasper mumbling to herself, probably getting her anger out on a punching bag. For a moment, she tried to listen, curious to hear what she was saying, though decided it'd be best to ignore it rather than hear something she'd wish she hadn't. Her room made her feel a little better instantly. In her mind, beautiful patterns rose from the floor she was turning on. After moving diagonally while turning, she launched herself into a stag leap, turning to face the opposite direction that she'd landed in and arching back. A smile tugged at her lips. Dance was an escape. Even though her technique wasn't on point, she still tried. There was a brief mention of something extremely close gems can do, fusion was what she thought it was called, though she'd never seen anyone do it. One day she wanted to try it, even though she didn't really understand it.


	2. Chapter 2

JASPER

Stupid. _Punch_. Weak. _Punch_. Failure.

No matter what she did, Jasper couldn't beat away away her anger. How had she managed to mess up her mission so bad? Any faith Yellow Diamond had in her was probably gone at this point. They'd lost someone who could be incredibly powerful if she'd just stop helping _Rose_ , one of their best technicians and a whole ship. It only made it worse that all that had stopped them was a group of four traitors, one of which being much weaker than before.

"Ugh!" Jasper hit the punching bag so hard that it fell off the ceiling and hit the wall. She took a moment to gather what just happened before covering her face with her hands. A groan was muffled by her palms as she slid down the wall. Nothing was working out anymore.

No matter what she did, her mind couldn't escape Yellow Diamond and her words. Jasper kept imaging what she'd do to her if she failed her again. Though smashing her gem would be the simplest idea, there were many others growing rapidly in her mind. She was tempted to punch the wall, and almost did, but stopped herself because she wasn't in the mood to destroy her home, even though the current situation couldn't get any worse.

After a while her mind wandered to Pearl and how much Jasper may have hurt her. Yes, she hated being given sympathy, especially after being called pathetic by someone she wanted the most approval from, but Pearl had good intentions. Jasper couldn't say she was good at apologising, and she didn't really want to either. It just wasn't how she worked. She couldn't understand why she cared so much either, and that only annoyed her even more. Without looking, Jasper punched the nearest thing to her, and now the end of her bed was split in half.

Days had passed. Anything Pearl said, whether it was a hello or a question, Jasper didn't reply to. She hadn't forgotten about how she'd felt, though seeing that Pearl wasn't injured or anything, she decided not to say anything. Her job had become a lot harder over those days; no one respected her the way they did before. She was told that she'd be part of the next major mission which was something. She had a chance to redeem herself. Yellow Diamond and those who were closer to her rank seemed to be still figuring out details, so the plan hadn't been announced yet.

The room was big, decorated with triangular and diamond shaped patterns, all in green and yellow shades. Not many people sat there, just Jasper, Yellow Diamond and her guards, a few people who were helping figure out the details and two technicians with the gems Olivine.  
"We can't have you using a large ship again, especially not after your last mission." One of the gems sitting close to Yellow Diamond pointed out.  
"And it'd be useful for stealth. The Crystal Gems will most likely be on the lookout for you." Another one added, glancing at Yellow Diamond to see if she approved of the idea.  
"Of course. Last time was a disaster. It's unlikely that you'll need the ship for combat anyway." Yellow Diamond added.  
"But what if Rose Quartz shows up again? Or that blue-"  
"Jasper, listen, you said Rose Quartz is now some kind of child. Can you honestly not handle that?" Another one of the gems that sat near the Diamond gem interrupted.  
"But La-"  
"Jasper, these gems shouldn't even be half as strong as you. You're a general for a reason." Yellow Diamond smirked once she finished speaking, a few others there agreeing, even with the terrible results with the last mission. Jasper just couldn't understand why.

The meeting had ended. Jasper grunted as one of Yellow Diamond's closer friends shoved past her as if she was the most important thing there.  
"Jasper?" The voice she really wanted to get away from called as she left the room with others who'd be useful for the mission.  
"Yes?" Jasper turned, taking a few steps closer to the gem. She had very sharp features, her eyes the same colour as her gem which sat on her chest. She stood, a little taller than Jasper, which was surprising considering her height. As Jasper grew closer, Yellow Diamond grabbed her face, digging her sharp nails into her cheeks.  
"Don't disappoint me again." She hissed. "We're just filling a few holes in the plan and then you will be sent to earth again and you will succeed. If you don't, well..." She paused, a small snicker slipping from her lips. Jasper gulped. "Everyone's replaceable. Let's hope you do _very_ well."  
She signalled for Jasper to leave, the Orange gem nodding. As she began to walk, the voice continued.  
"Also, if it isn't any trouble- it won't be any trouble, could you bring your Pearl to the meeting tomorrow? She'd be very useful for the mission." Great.

As she left, she could still hear Yellow Diamond talking about her.  
"Honestly, that pathetic gem couldn't even take down some sort of... human child."  
Jasper sighed, rolling her eyes at herself as she left. There was nothing more she had to do here, so she accessed the nearest warp pad as soon as she could. Looking at the symbols of the wall, the blue, the white and the yellow triangle enclosed in a circle, it only reminded her of that blue brat and the coward of a technician. She raised her fist, about to smash it into the wall before the warp activated, only allowing her to hit air.

Her home was... clean. That wasn't new. Something felt wrong. Jasper glanced around, looking through things and examining everything there, though nothing seemed out of place. She groaned, unable to find what felt so different. It was irritating knowing that something just wasn't right but having no idea what it was. Despite how much it annoyed her, she decided to take it out on some thing in her room rather than sit and worry about it. That was before she realised. There, in the darkened corridor, stood a lost looking Pearl. Upon Jasper noticing her, she was quick to slip back into her room. Pearl would usually greet her, welcome her back and Jasper would usually reply, even if it was just with some sort of smile. For the past few days, she'd just walked by, ignoring anything the thin gem had said. She'd given up.

"Pearl?" She was usually a cold, cruel, straight up mean brute who cared little for other people, though she didn't like the sudden change in atmosphere. After about a minute of waiting, she knocked on the door. "Are you even listening?"  
There was a silence between them. Jasper waited a moment, lightly resting her forehead against the door before turning round and sliding down it. She sighed, not sure if saying anything was a good idea at that point. All she could do was think for a while. There was a lot of things in her mind aside from Pearl: Yellow Diamond, the mission, a punching bag that was still on the floor in the corner of her room, her broken bed, but there was one thing her mind decided to concentrate on. Why was Pearl so sensitive about this? Why was Pearl so sensitive at all? Weren't those things supposed to feel nothing? This was just confusing if anything, she couldn't understand.  
"Pearl? Am I just gonna have to sit here forever? I'm **really** not in the mood."

PEARL

She sat, looking out the window. Her name was said over and over, though she just wasn't in the mood to reply. Why would Jasper need her now anyway? Did she need to figure out how to wash something? That wouldn't be a surprise. Pearl sighed, watching the few gems that wandered through the streets at this time. Jasper couldn't sit there forever. Well, she probably could, but she wouldn't want to.

"Pearl?" _Go away_. "Are you even going to try to talk to me?" _No_. "Why are you just ignoring me?!"

She heard a smashing sound, shooting up and whipping round.  
"Oh shit, ow."  
Ugh, what had she done now? Pearl opened her door, only to meet the surprised expression of Jasper with glass shards in her fist. The pale gem glanced at the scene, the desperation on Jasper's face, the shattered mirror, it was all too much. She began to close her door, her gem glowing dimly. Thick fingers pulled her wrist forward, the door almost closing in on her.  
"Jasper, please. I just want-"  
"What's up with you?" She pulled Pearl though the door, it closing behind her. Her wrist slipped from the or orange gem's grip, though she chose not to leave. Jasper waited for a reply, though Pearl didn't have one to give. Her gaze moved to the floor, Jasper was almost about to scream in frustration. Why would she only want to talk now that she'd ignored her for almost a week? Pearl hated it all.  
"Listen, please." Jasper continued to say. "I don't understand any of this. You're all... Different. It doesn't make any sense. It's like you... You suddenly feel? Pearls aren't supposed to do that!"  
"I'm not... I'm not..." She fought tears that gathered in her eyes, turning away. Ever since her the day she was made, the day her emotions became visible, she was treated like some kind of criminal by other Pearls. She didn't want Jasper to see her as a mistake.  
"You're defective?" Jasper interrupted, probably not realising how loud her voice had grown. The word was bullet going right through Pearl's chest in her mind. She forgot to hold the tears back as they began to roll down her cheeks.  
"Just leave me alone."  
"Do you not think your being a little dramatic?" Jasper questioned, Pearl turning her head, not sure if she should be annoyed or confused. "Yeah, you're dodgy and all, but your gem isn't smashed up. That's a start."  
The orange gem did have a point, though she'd rather throw herself a little pity party than admit that she was maybe overreacting. It was a big deal to her. Rejection had shaped quite a lot of the personality she wasn't supposed to, and didn't want to have. Jasper was very straight-to-the-point though, it made sense she wouldn't really understand.  
"Yeah but I-"  
"Listen, I have another mission coming up. Yellow Diamond thinks you could be useful or something. We're going to need you for a meeting tomorrow." Jasper changed the topic suddenly. Pearl couldn't really tell why, though the new subject was important too.  
"Do you know anything about-" She began before being interrupted.  
"Nope. Don't even ask. I'm going to _try_ to sleep, so just be ready to go in the morning or something." The bigger gem turned and entered her room, her gem glowing slightly as the door open.

The thin gem watched Jasper leave, confused by what had just happened. Jasper just found out that she was defective, something she'd been hiding for so long, and yet she cared so little. Pearl was unsure if she should be relieved that it was an easy situation to get out of or annoyed that she wasn't sympathetic about something so personal. But then again, that wasn't surprising. The most she could do at this point was figure out why she was needed and wait for morning to come.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yaaay, chapter 3. This will hopefully clear up a few questions. I'm almost done with the next chapter too. Also maybe 2ish more chapters before just begins to properly happen so put on your seat belts.**

 **JASPER**

She didn't need to sleep, but she wanted to. It felt odd not doing so for days, but her bed was busted. It was impossible to sleep in it without worrying it'd break more or without sliding down into the broken part of the bed. She could have easily got Pearl to fix it, but she didn't. Only now she was realising how that ended up to be quite problematic. Should she bother Pearl? Did Pearl sleep? Two things Jasper didn't know the answer to, but she'd find out anyway.

She was shameless, leaving her room and knocking on Pearl's door. It was 2am. But Pearl couldn't be doing much at this time, right? She knocked again, waiting in front of the pale gem's door. It opened, Pearl sitting at the window and turning to the door. Jasper glanced around the room. She didn't noticed that Pearl had decorated before. It was nice. There were pillows and such, organised nicely and complimenting each other. Maybe Jasper should have trusted her more with interior design.

"Yes, Jasper?" She asked, seeming startled by seeing her, but who else could have been knocking?  
"Pearl." She said, trying to keep her natural, always angry looking face up despite how awkward she felt.  
"That's my name." Pearl said, not hiding that this situation was definitely strange.  
"My bed is broken. It has been for several days." Jasper said, keep a monotone voice that Pearl raised a brow at.  
"... Oh-kay? Oh! _Oh_ , I get it now, you need me to fix it." She stood up, blushing a little at her mistake.  
"That's the plan." Jasper gave her some kind of weird half grin and gun hands as she walked into Jasper's room.

Jasper grinned uncomfortably as Pearl's eyes widened at the mess. She could tell that Pearl was disgusted by the pile of clothes and things knocked on the floor. She heard the thin gem mumble something along the lines of 'It's worse than I thought'. Jasper couldn't understand why she was so shocked. She wasn't exactly good at cleaning, nor did she care about doing it  
"How did you-? And your punching bag?" Pearl was still for a second, shaking the thought out of her head and getting to the task at hand. Jasper just nodded, glancing at her feet. This was... Uncomfortable.  
Pearl spent a little bit of time on the bed, fixing it quickly. A few glances and strange looks were exchanged, faces displaying many different emotions shared. They stood there for a minute or so, just looking around.  
"I-I fixed your bed." Pearl finally said.  
"Yup, you did." Jasper replied quickly, shrugging a little.  
"Should I fix that, or are you, um...?" She pointed to the punching back that had just been shoved to the corner of the room.  
"No, nope, I'm good." She walked back into her own her own room, the pale gem backing out, smiling a little.  
"Well, uh... Sleep well. If that's how sleeping works." Pearl nodded a little turning and entering her room.  
"Will do."

Both their doors closed at roughly the same time. That was painful. At least it wasn't her just ignoring Pearl. It was the longest conversation they'd ever had. Jasper almost considered that maybe they could build some kind of small friendship, or at least know each other a little. They'd have to, knowing that there was a decent possibility that they be working together. Jasper had done her job long enough to know that being too close in a job is just as bad as being too distant and not knowing each other at all.

Why was Pearl going to be relevant to a mission anyway? It didn't make sense. She had no training in military areas or anything that could be useful to them. Had she done something bad? Maybe Jasper was only coming to deliver her to Yellow Diamond before her gem was destroyed. No, that made no sense. YD said it herself, Pearl was relevant to the mission. Rather than pondering on something she'd find out soon enough, she could sleep for the first time in about a week. Good idea.

 **PEARL**

The bed scenario earlier that morning was... _Interesting_. Pearl couldn't understand how one gem could cause so much mess and live in it. The thought was just horrible. Though Pearl wasn't into cleaning, at least, she didn't consider it to be a hobby, though it still disgusted her. How did Jasper even managed to break her own bed? The only thing Pearl could really understand about the whole situation was that Jasper didn't want to sleep in that wreck. She wouldn't have either.

She waited for Jasper to knock on her door and tell her it was time to go to the meeting, though that wasn't happening. Knowing the orange gem, she was probably asleep. Pearl left her room, knocking on Jasper's door. No reply. If she was asleep, how was she supposed to respond anyway? Pearl groaned, knocking again, but harder.

"Jasper? Are you in there?" She called, pressing her ear to the door. Ugh, where was that idiot?  
"Nope, I'm here." Jasper leant on the wall, smirking a little. It was a mystery how Pearl didn't see her in the hallway, despite how she could probably block out the sun with how big she was.  
"Well, uh, we should probably go if we don't want to be late." Pearl nodded slowly.  
"Yup." Jasper glanced around. Judging by the atmosphere between them, Pearl wished the bed was something she didn't know about.  
"So... Are we going to go, or?"  
"Sure." She shrugged.

How could Jasper care so little about this? She understand that she probably spoke with Yellow Diamond quite a lot, but this meeting now included Pearl. She could be useful to the mission, and despite how well she hid it, she was scared. She was a Pearl, a defective Pearl, that could be used for anything and she'd have to agree with it. She wasn't allowed to defend herself if she wanted to keep her act going, which was vital for staying alive in most situations. Why was this all so confusing? In the end, her gem could be shattered and she could be replaced by something that felt nothing. That was what seemed to be the most likely ending to her life.

She followed Jasper onto the warp pad, Jasper calling the warp stream and they were soon in the building. The design was boring. Repeated patterns, there to remind who ever walked by who was in power. White Diamond. The richest part of Homeworld was home to the people with the most power. It was hard to believe that there was anyone more powerful than Yellow Diamond. From what Pearl knew, she crushed gems between her fingers. The worst part was that she had Jasper under her thumb. She used her constantly, giving her a high rank and then threatening to take it away if she didn't succeed. Jasper didn't understand how horrible it all seemed. Pearl could be wrong, though she'd lived with a jasper long enough and heard enough to pick up this much.

"Stick behind me." Jasper said as she walked, using her arm to get her go move back.  
Pearl only nodded in response. She tried not to look around, worried that everyone was staring at her. The feeling of eyes prickled her back like a million needles. It was only her being paranoid, though she wouldn't let herself believe that. Just stay behind Jasper.

They entered a room, early. Two technicians that seemed to have very synchronised movements glanced at them as they sat down. No one else had arrived yet.  
The two technicians rested their hands on the table, sitting up straight. Pearl did the same, though Jasper stuck out. She leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs and almost kicking Pearl while doing so. The two technicians, both with a gem of Olivine, seemed to have some relationship. Pearl listened to their conversation. They have split the name of their gem into two words. The one with a more olive-green gem had taken the obvious name, Olive. The other's gem was more of a grey-green colour, and she called herself Iene. She spelt it strangely in Pearl's mind, though it was pronounced as 'Ine' either way.

"211?" Olive said, causing Pearl to turn her head instantly.  
"How did you-?"  
"Iene saw your neck before you sat down." The same gem interrupted, Iene nodding.  
"Do you prefer it as _'two hundred and eleven'_ , or _'two one one'_?" Iene then asked.  
"I prefer Pearl." The pale gem said nonchalantly.  
The two green gems glanced at each other, shrugging at the same time. "Okay, Pearl." They said in unison. The voices mixed made it sound like a horrid buzz.  
"Do you sound like that when you fuse?" Pearl asked.  
Jasper sat up straight and leaned in, as well as Olive and Iene, confused by her question.  
"Fuse?" Iene sounded concerned, glancing at Olive.  
"Ha! We don't fuse! That's stupid." Olive laughed, slapping her hand against the table.  
"No one does here. It's... It's just a cheap tactic to-" Iene began.  
"To make weak gems stronger. Where'd you even get the idea?" Jasper interrupted, not realising how loud her voice had grown.  
"I... I just... Someone mentioned it." Pearl turned away, wrapping her arms around her torso. She'd always wanted to fuse, she couldn't understand why it seemed so bad.  
"Who? Where?" Pearl turned back to Jasper, not realising that the bigger gem would be so close to her face.  
" _What_? Oh, no, it was a long time ago. I-I don't remember." Why was Jasper so loud about this? I mean, she was usually loud anyway, but she acted like this was some kind of terrible crime. Pearl watched her settle back down and sighing.  
"Just don't get any ideas, okay? We don't fuse here, and we never will." Jasper grunted.

More people began to enter the room, wearing fancy clothes or things to make them seem intimidating. Pearl couldn't tell if it worked to well or not. They all sat in certain places, talking to anyone they knew for a moment. There was a door at the far end of the table, one that no one had came through. She turned to ask Jasper what it was for, though before she could speak, Jasper said it was how Yellow Diamond would make the same grand entrance that she always does. Pearl just nodded. Jasper didn't seem to be too fond of Yellow Diamond.

The door at the far end began to open, everyone sitting up straight and a few clearing their throats. Pearl did the same just to fit in. A gem, incredibly tall with incredibly pointed features came out. She wore a huge cape which she took off the moment she walked in. As it fell to the ground, it disappeared into sparks that rose into the air and vanished. Pearl was amazed, though Jasper seemed unimpressed. It was safe to assume Yellow Diamond did this often.

"I assume everyone is here, yes?" Yellow Diamond began, glancing around to find no empty chairs. "Perfect. And I see 211 is here as well."  
Most of the eyes in the room were now on Pearl, who grew tense. Why was she here?  
"Well, good, because we have the mission ready."  
"Pearl." Another gem said. She was plump, her skin a dark brown-red and her lips the same deep red as the gem on her forehead. It was shaped like a diamond, though her gem wasn't diamond. "There are six gems still on Earth that we know about, four who are working to defend it. There is also Peridot, who was our best technician, and Lapis Lazuli, an incredibly powerful ocean gem, though they aren't working with the Crystal Gems."  
Pearl nodded to show she understand, the round gem smiling a little.  
"You see, Jasper and Peridot went to check on... Uh, they went to Earth. Of course they encountered these gems, a fusion named Garnet, an Amethyst, a Pearl and, leader of the rebellion, Rose Quartz, in a much weaker form."  
The gem continued to say everything that happened in that time. Pearl developed an image of it in her mind instead of listening fully. It had ended up to be quite an interesting (and very exaggerated) story.

 _'A huge hand shaped ship tinted the whole town green, sending the few gems there into worry. The town had to evacuate as the helpless gems tried to fight it, a small male child with the gem of Rose Quartz leading the other three. The ship landed, the team summoning their weapons, the light from their gems flooding the beach. Three gems, one of technology, one of strength and one of water, left the ship. They were ready to crush this tiny planet._  
 _"You must leave! You are not wanted here!" The fusion shouted, raising a fist._  
 _"Yes, this planet is not controlled by us, but humans." The Pearl added._  
 _"We are superior here." Amethyst ended their battle cries._  
 _"You cannot take us down." Jasper smirked, the other two gems doing the same._  
 _"We have technology beyond your knowledge." Peridot said, her fingers forming a screen that she drew a perfect circle on. She pressed her fingers directly onto the middle of it, the circle filling as the ship prepared to fire._  
 _"You shall never defeat us!" The small boy cried, jumping in front of the Crystal Gems. A huge, pink shield burst from his stomach, blocking the explosion. Jasper turned, shocked and enraged upon seeing the symbol of Rose Quartz.'_

"And then Jasper was defeated by the fusion on the ship, which caused it to explode and land back on Earth. Luckily, Jasper was able to access an escape pod and contact us." The gem said, Pearl a little upset with how little detail was used. "Jasper sent multiple distress calls and now we are here with you and everyone else."  
Pearl nodded, smiling a little to herself. It was strange thinking about it though. Jasper had came home late. She also came home with wounds all over her body because of this mission. Pearl looked up at Jasper, seeing that see seemed troubled, even if she tried to hide it. Jasper looked at Pearl, a brow raised and a slightly angry expression on her face. Pearl mouthed 'I'm sorry', raising her hands in front of her chest.  
"So, we have a small ship that we will use. Olive and Iene will be able to fly it easily. Now, Pearl, we know you're a little... Faulty. That's why you're perfect for this mission. We need you to destroy and replace the Pearl in their team. She might not exactly hold them together, but with her, you can take them down from the inside. Jasper can escort you."

Pearl didn't even listen as Yellow Diamond went over more details. Destroy another defective Pearl? It already sounded like something she wouldn't want to do, yet she couldn't escape it. This was Jasper's chance to gain her respect back, Pearl wasn't going to ruin it. She was just unsure how she was going to crush the gem of someone she could relate to while still knowing so little about her.  
"If there are any questions, please ask them now." A pink gem finally said, glancing around at everyone.  
"Do I have to kill the other Pearl?" The thin gem asked, every other person in the room looking at her with different expressions. Confusion, anger, a little fear as well.  
"Isn't that one of the main points?" A bright blue gem said, raising a brow.  
"No, no, I mean, we could taken her here. She'd have a lot of important information, especially about Rose." Pearl bit her lower lip as she waited for a reaction from Yellow Diamond. It was terrifying. There was no way to read her expression.  
"True... True..." Yellow Diamond sat, thinking. All eyes were on her as she rubbed her chin. Some kind of relief washed over Pearl, knowing that YD agreed in some way. "Either way works. Just make sure that the Crystal Gems are missing a member."  
Pearl gulped. She wasn't told why this mission was so important, she was only told that the Crystal Gems interfered with the main plan, though she didn't know what that was either. Maybe Jasper did, though Jasper probably wouldn't tell her. Was it worth doing this? She didn't even know what she was helping with. She'd tell herself that, but then she'd remember when Jasper came home. Lost in her thoughts, she winced at the reminder of those wounds.

The meeting ended. Gems left, most looking down at Pearl. She'd never felt so small, both emotionally and literally. The red gem who had explained the Crystal Gems to her smiled as she walked by.  
"I'm Cuprite, by the way." She said, Pearl surprised that she was speaking to her directly. "I hope we can see each other again." And she left, noticing Pearl's smile at the last minute and waving.  
"Do you think I'll-?" Pearl began, Jasper looking down at her as well, though only because of how tall she was.  
"Nah. She doesn't come 'round often." Jasper shrugged.  
"Oh." Pearl looked down, beginning to leave with Jasper before she heard her name.  
"Pearl?" Yellow Diamond said, beckoning her over.  
Jasper and Pearl's eyes met for a moment, the bigger gem shrugging again.  
"Y-yes, Yellow Diamond?"

Her eyes were a bright yellow, like some wild animal. Her lips were thin and her mouth was long, her teeth sharp like any other feature she had. Her voice was deep, though not as deep as Jasper's, and it was a lot more intimidating. It was almost funny how she was a living knife. Anything about her appearance could be described as pointed and her words were only made to cut through people, or to stab them right in the throat.  
"Pearl?" The thin gem looked into Yellow Diamond's eyes. "I think you should know something about the mission. It's very important."  
"Oh, of course." Pearl said, taking a small step forward. She didn't want to get too close. She tried to make sure there was enough distance between them to prevent herself from being touched.  
"Come closer. It's important that Jasper doesn't know." Yellow Diamond tried to hide a smirk that curled on her lips.  
Pearl couldn't trust that this would end well. Tell her something Jasper didn't know? That wasn't going to happen. Pearl leaned forward anyway, not wanting to annoy her.  
She regretted that. She brought her hand to her cheek. Blue blood. Pearl's eyes were wide, trying to figure out what had just happened. Why did she suddenly have a cut on her cheek and why was Yellow Diamond grinning so widely? Why were her sharp nails tipped with the colour blue?  
"Now you can match Jasper. Almost." Yellow Diamond chuckled. Pearl glanced back at the orange gem. She had scars on her body and marks on her face from where the cuts had been.  
"Listen, Pearl, just because you were chosen to go on this mission doesn't mean you are special. You are _defective_. You are a _mistake_. Do you want to know the best part?" A wide, evil grin returned to the Diamond's face. "You can be replaced by something better. You can be replaced by something that feels nothing and you can be thrown away. It's the same with everyone, Jasper, Iene and Olive, maybe even Cuprite. Don't pull any stunts. If this mission isn't complete for whatever reason, then Jasper and every other gem relevant to this mission can have their gems decorated with cracks and they can all thank you. You'll set off tomorrow. Be ready."


	4. Chapter 4

**JASPER**

Home. Jasper was ready for the mission tomorrow. No preparation was really needed. She hardly had to do anything anyway. She decided to work out for the remainder of what was left of the day, knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to on the ship. Was this mission going to be different from any other? Probably not. Was she looking forward to it? Nope. Small tasks like these weren't for those of her rank. She might as well look after little gems instead, it was basically what she was doing now.

After an hour or two, Jasper finished working out. She didn't push herself that time, she just wasn't in the mood, and it ended quite abruptly, with her forgetting how many crunches she'd done and just sitting down. She began to wonder what Yellow Diamond had told Pearl. Jasper had heard YD mention her, though she was unsure why. She'd seen Pearl looked at her with fear in her eyes, though she'd never said a word after. Her and Pearl hadn't talked at all on the way to the warps or in the stream. The moment they were home, she left to her room. Jasper decided not to stop her though. She could imagine that the little gem was probably psyched out by all the other gems who tried to make her feel like nothing just by looking at her. Knowing Pearl, it probably worked.

"Pearl? You in there?" Jasper knocked on her door. It is a strange question. Where would she go? Could she even access the warp?  
" _Jasper_?" Her voice seemed very distant, even though she wasn't far away.  
"What was YD talking to you about?" She'd always been very straight-to-the-point. It got things done.  
A thick wall of silence formed between them. Of course that would happen. Jasper didn't except anything else to be honest, though she thought that Pearl would open up easier now.  
She listened closely, trying to hear any of Pearl's movements. A few minutes that felt like hours passed before Jasper heard her choke up.  
"Pearl? Open the door." Jasper banged on it, knowing that she probably wouldn't open it. " _Please_."  
"I'm fine! There's no need... I-I'm okay." This was followed by small bursts of crying muffled into a pillow. She was lying, it wasn't even subtle.  
"Don't lie." She huffed, sliding her back down the door and sitting there. After a minute or so, the door opened, Jasper almost falling onto the floor.  
Pearl sat on her bed, her eyes still red from crying. Was she really gonna try to hide this?  
"I'm fine, see?" She smiled weakly.  
"What happened to your cheek?" Jasper asked, folding her arms.  
"Oh- this? I tripped on the-"  
"It was Yellow Diamond." She sat beside Pearl, the thin gem moving back.  
"No, no, it was just-"  
"What did she tell you?"  
Pearl looked away, holding her arm. This was going to take forever.  
"Look at me." Jasper sighed, placing a hand on her cut cheek and guiding her face so there eyes met. "If it doesn't matter, why are you crying again?"  
"She just said that..." She sniffed, moving Jasper's hand down onto the bed. "That I was a mistake." And she began to tear up again.  
Of course. Yellow Diamond had given Jasper the 'you're replaceable' talk. She gave it to almost everyone. Of course there would be certain things you could say to a Pearl, a defective Pearl at that, that would be more personal. It wasn't surprising that Yellow Diamond said all of those things.  
"You honestly gonna listen to her? She tells everyone that. I got the replaceable talk before too. It hurts the first time, sure, but not the fifth. She probably has a script or something that she uses over and over." Jasper laughed to herself.  
Pearl was quite, looking down at her hands. Maybe Jasper's humour wasn't to her liking.  
"If... If I mess up, she said she'd smash all of our gems. Mine, yours, the technicians, Cuprite's too."  
"Cupri-? Oh. It'll be okay. The mission will work out."  
"What if the Crystal Gems notice?"  
"They won't. We have this covered. Soon we'll be back here when this is all over. They are just whatever's left over from the rebellion. We can handle this. I think we have an edge." Jasper didn't realise how desperate she sounded, as if she was trying to remind herself what the Crystal Gems were.  
A silence grew between them. Did she say something wrong? Probably. Comforting wasn't Jasper's thing.  
"We can be replaced." Pearl's voice was hardly a whisper. She was probably going to start crying again.  
"No, we can't. At least, you can't." Jasper placed her hands on Pearl's shoulders, the pale gem looking right into her eyes. "You aren't just another Pearl. You have a personality and stuff." Pearl looked down. Maybe that wasn't the right approach. "And you're stronger than any other Pearl I know."  
"How many Pearls do you know?"  
"That doesn't matter, okay? I'm trying my best here." Jasper chuckled, causing Pearl to smile a little.  
"I know, you're doing pretty well." Seeing that she could cheer Pearl up, or at least try to, made Jasper grin. She wasn't the best at it, though she was still proud of being able to get her to smile. It was fun to be around her without having to be professional or some heartless brute.  
"You ever tried sleeping?" Jasper asking, raising a brow.  
"... _No_...?" The pale gem was confused. No surprise there.  
"Ha. Thought so."  
The orange gem rested her back on the bed, her hands behind her neck. Pearl did the same, glancing at Jasper to be sure she was doing it correctly.  
"Is this sleeping?" She asked, causing Jasper laugh. Maybe she could teach her how to sleep, though that'd be hard. How do you even explain how to sleep?  
"No, this is lying down."  
"Oh. Well, yes, but how does this sleeping thing work?"  
Jasper turned to her, trying to contain her laughter. "Firstly, you need to be comfortable."  
"I feel comfortable sitting." Pearl said, beginning to push herself up.  
"And you need to be lying down for best results." Jasper rolled her eyes, a small chuckle escaping her lips.  
"Oh. Yes. What else?"  
"Eyes closed." Jasper demonstrated each thing as she said it, making her begin to fall asleep. Before she could, she opened her eyes to see if Pearl was doing it. "Pearl?"

A blue hologram was projected onto the ceiling. It was of Pearl, her back turned to her audience, which was only made up of Jasper lying on the bed in reality. Her arms began to wave, the bigger movements in her wrists soon being followed by the rest of her body, though only for a moment before she dipped her back down, revealing her face. Putting her right foot forward, she pushed herself into a fouetté turn. Her head shipped round, keeping her from getting dizzy. All within a second, she placed her left foot on the ground and kicked her turning foot into the air, performing a smooth illusion kick and landing with one hand on her heart. She slowly slid down into her splits, rolling out of them with her back on the floor. She kicked her legs in the air, rolling over her shoulder and landing on her knees. For a moment, she was still before bursting up, forming and arch with her body, her head dipped back. The only thing still on the ground was her toes. She then lifted herself up, standing straight and reaching out to something in front of her. She launched herself into a knee drop jump, hitting her fist onto the ground when she landed before turning round and facing the wall. She was still on her knees, pausing for air. Pearl lifted one foot, using the other to whip herself into a pencil turn. She suddenly stopped, breathing heavily.

"Why'd you stop?" Jasper asked, raising an eyebrow. She'd forgotten that Pearl was asleep.  
Arms, pitch black arms began to grow out of the black stage. They reached up her legs, grabbing her wrists and pulling her forward. They held her hands in place, not allowing her to move as the creature's face became visible. No features were distinguishable, it was all just a black blob, except it's eyes and mouth. It had bright yellow eyes, staring right at the small Pearl, and pointed teeth that were shown between dark lips.

"Do it." It said in a low hiss, beginning to walk around her. The creature had a disgustingly deformed body, to pairs of legs and one pair of arms all used to walk along the ground. It was like a giant insect, though only it's body suggested that.  
"I-I can't. I don't..." Pearl closed her eyes, moving her head away.  
"You're replaceable." It interrupted. Jasper didn't understand. Maybe the creature was supposed to resemble Yellow Diamond, maybe it was supposed to resemble her. The voice seemed like it was both their's, just put on top of each other. She didn't think she acted that way towards Pearl, but Yellow Diamond acted that way towards everyone. Maybe she'd been doing something horribly wrong. Maybe she couldn't let this mission continue.  
"I'm not... I-I can't do it because I..." She began to cry, a grin growing on the monster's face. "Because I don't want to be a murderer."

She was dropped to the ground by what held her wrists, gasping for air. When she stood, she faced a mirror, or a glass wall. On the other side was another Pearl who, even though she looked happy and wore different clothes, followed her movements.

"Do it. Then you can go back." The monster hovered over her, closely watching every movement she made.

Pearl placed a hand on the glass, the reflection doing the same. She raised her fist, punching the glass. Cracks spread across the mirrored wall, though it didn't break. She was able to catch a glimpse of the other gem, her terrified look and a huge wound in her chest before she fell to the ground, only saying one thing. "Steven!"

The dream was to much to keep watching. Jasper had seen the Pearl, the Crystal Gem and she saw that the Pearl she knew didn't want to hurt her. She'd begun to worry that this mission would fail. She'd begun to worry that Pearl saw her as a monster rather than a gem. The large gem looked at her hands, closing them. She heard noises from Pearl's dream, noises that made her wish she never taught Pearl how to sleep. She could hear screams from one gem or the other, maybe both, but they were soon stopped. The Pearl that lay in the bed way tense, wrapped tightly in the blanket over her body. The dream had ended up with the thin gem falling down into deeper ocean, slowly and carefully. Jasper sighed. She was sure Pearl didn't see her the way she saw herself. She was certain.

 **PEARL**

Waves wrapped around her body, hugging her and pressing against her lips, though they didn't love her. She opened her eyes as they pulled her down, but she didn't fight back. There was no point. She almost smiled, curling into a small ball as she let the cold consume her. But it didn't. Instead, she felt an arm on hers, giving off heat. It had an orange glow as it held her. It made her smile more than drowning would have. Maybe she wasn't getting to the surface, but she wasn't going down alone. It was a start.

Now she understood why most people didn't sleep. She was tired and didn't want to get up, not that she could. Had the ceiling caved in? Probably not, but it felt like it. What was even on top of her? She tried to lift it, this time succeeding. Her eyes were a little blurry after being exposed to the light, so she couldn't see what it was properly to begin. Jasper's _arm_?! Pearl was careful to check that nothing else happened, though they were both clothed and Jasper was on top of the blanket. Her arm on Pearl probably wasn't even some kind of act of affection, more of just a flop onto the bed and need for sleep. She rolled her eyes at the orange gem. She looked terrible.

She put two fingers on either side of her gem, cleaning herself up a little with magic. Though she didn't look as bad as Jasper did, sleep definitely wasn't good at keeping things neat. Pearl sat for a while, looking out the window. A few memories of her dream slipped by, though they were only of the water she kept sinking in and small sections of her dance. She then remembered the mission, shooting up from her position and shaking Jasper awake.

"What?" The gem said through a yawn. She looked like she could sleep for years at that point. Suddenly her eyes grew wide. "Mission."  
"And what are you doing in my room?" Pearl helped Jasper up.  
"I got locked in. You were asleep so you couldn't open the door."  
"Did you consider waking me up?" Pearl raised a brow.  
"I dunno, you were dreaming. It was interesting to watch." Jasper shrugged nonchalantly, summoning a neat outfit and fixing her hair.  
"Watch?!"  
"Your gem was showing the dream. Nice dance." Jasper grinned, almost laughing as a blue blush bloomed on Pearl's cheeks.  
"Let's just forget that. We have somewhere to be." Pearl laughed nervously.  
Jasper nodded, her smile suddenly disappearing as she looked out into the corner. Pearl tried to gain it back by talking as they left her room.

"Your arm was on top of me."  
" _Oh_ , really?"  
"I was trapped!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, three things before hand. One, this chapter has an abuse trigger warning now, m'kay (but it's not to do with Jasper and Pearl). Second, this is my _third_ time editing it because I lost it twice. Thirdly, I just wanted to thank everyone for the lovely reviews! Okay onto the fic.**

 **PEARL**

They entered the room that the meeting had been in. Empty. It was most likely that they were late. Pearl groaned, turning to leave before Iene burst in. She was breathing heavily when she entered, giving them a sigh of relief.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere." She reached for both their arms, holding Pearl's and Jasper hitting her hand away. "Sorry, but we need to go right now!"

She ran through the corridors, Pearl trying not to fall over and Jasper walking behind them. She took them into a wide room with an open roof. There sat the ship, and it was huge. At least, to Pearl it was. It was a very dark blue colour, probably so it would blend in with the night sky. She glanced up at Jasper, who didn't seem as pleased as she was.

"I didn't work my ass off for this shit." She muttered, probably not noticing Pearl's annoyance at her wording.

Iene reexplained what Pearl had to do. "We have some fake robonoids that'll distract the Crystal Gems. We've made... Well, we've made a lot, so they'll probably have to split up to take them down easier. That'll be a bonus. You'll be able to get into Pearl's room, assuming that she has one, using your pearl. Obviously." Iene laughed nervously. "But anyway, you'll be able to capture her and summon her clothes. It'll all work out!"

Pearl nodded, though she wasn't as sure as Iene seemed to be. Maybe she could deal with Pearl without hurting her at all. Unlikely. It was unavoidable that one of them would die in the end.

Iene entered the ship, waving as she did. Pearl was going to do the same, though Jasper grabbed her arm.  
"Pearl. If you don't want to do this, I can cover for you. There are other Pearls that could-" Jasper sounded desperate.  
"No. I'll do it." She smiled weakly. "It'll be fine."  
"No, really. You have a scar on your cheek. They'll notice that for sure."  
She was right, though she didn't like how Jasper doubted her. Pearl lifted her hand to her cheek, feeling the wound. It had began to heal, leaving dry clumps of deep blue blood.  
"It'll be fine." She repeated, though she was even less sure this time.

They were to board the ship. Pearl was disappointed with the interior design. It looked like they were back in the meeting room, which looked like the corridors in the building. She didn't consider that they probably didn't care for interior anyway, it was all about if whatever was decorated worked, and could show off their power, which it probably did. That was enough to them, though the colour green was overused.

Iene stepped out of the control room, sighing with relief. "I thought you were never coming on! This is set to launch in ten minutes. After that, we'll arrive late tomorrow. We haven't got the exact details yet." As she returned to the room she was in, she hid mumbles about how slow the ship was. Anything said between Iene and Olive was muffled, though there seems to be something wrong. Before Pearl could listen, Jasper pulled her away.

"The launch will be bumpy. I know from experience. Don't ask." Jasper said, taking her into a room. There were four seats in pairs, two seat behind the others. A window was on the wall beside each seat. They only showed her some gems that wondered around the room, waiting for the ship to begin taking off.  
"What's this _for_ exactly?" It seemed to all be fitted into the smallest room they could get. Could Jasper even fit in those chairs?  
"We won't need to stay in them the whole flight, it's just while we take off and land." Jasper shrugged, sitting in one of the chairs at the front. Pearl sat in the one beside her. "We have other rooms for rest and cells for prisoners."  
She pulled the seat belts from the chair's sides. They met just below her chest, the buckle formed a yellow diamond, not too tight. It seemed to be the opposite for Jasper, who decided to wait until they were taking off to put the seatbelt on.

"Do you know anything about Iene and Olive?" Pearl decided to ask while they waited.  
"I know that they are gems." Jasper shrugged, smirking at her joke. "What about them?"  
"Like are they..." She tried to do some hand gestures to finish her sentence, though Jasper wasn't picking it up. "Are they together?"  
" _Maybe_? I dunno. Depends which one of them you ask." Pearl raised a brow at that. What did that even mean? Jasper noticed her confusion and continued. "Like, Olive is all about them being together, Iene doesn't answer or something like that."  
"Strange..." Pearl rubbed her chin, waiting for a reply from Jasper, though it never came.

A few minutes later, Olive entered, sitting behind Jasper. She seemed to be incredibly happy with this position, though Pearl couldn't tell why. In the next two minutes, Iene ran in, strapping herself in as quickly as she could.  
"Launching in two minutes! Strap up!" Iene said, mostly aiming her words towards Jasper who groaned.

They waited, soon hearing the ship start up. Pearl squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the sound. She didn't want to hear the ship leave, she just wanted to stay in the place she knew so well. Only when there was no going back, she wished she could go back home. Was she even going to be able to see her room again? She opened her eyes, glancing at Jasper. The orange gem stared out the window with her usual annoyed expression. Pearl was about to speak to her before she jerked forward, her head slamming back into the chair. Jasper was wrong, the launch was more than just _bumpy_.

Pearl was trying to stay tense, not allowing her to rock around as much. Everyone else there, especially Jasper, was able to stay in the same position. It was almost like she wasn't even leaving Homeworld. She began to wonder what Jasper was thinking. She always seemed to just look annoyed at something. That made it harder to read her expression. Maybe she missed her home, or maybe she was happy to get away, maybe she was scared that Pearl would mess up. That would be reasonable.

"What?" Jasper raised a brow, breaking Pearl from her thoughts. She didn't even realise she was staring.  
"Oh, it's nothing. I was just-" The ship lurched forward, throwing Pearl's head back. "When will this stop?"  
"Just wait another five minutes or so. I'll go to the control room." Iene unbuckled herself, keeping steady despite the ship's sudden movements.  
"Not alone." Olive grabbed her arm, pulling herself up. A smirk was on her face, though Iene pulled away as they left.  
"Do you think they'll manage? It's not like I almost smashed my head or anything." She laughed like she was going insane, Jasper rolling her eyes.  
"They'll be just fine." She turned again, looking out the window.

They weren't out of Homeworld's atmosphere yet. She could she endless cities cover the land, no natural life. Maybe Earth had something more interesting. She had heard that the planet was more... blue. And green. Those colours were only in ships and buildings on Homeworld. Pearl smiled at the idea of something other than streets and technology. Maybe she should let it stay as an idea.

Parts of the White and Blue Diamond sectors were visible. Seeing them from where she was showed the contrast between it all. The sector she was from, Yellow Diamond's sector, seemed a lot more dirty, though more populated. She hadn't realised how advanced the Blue sector was technology wise. It was like looking into the future. The White sector was harder to see. There were a few buildings, though they didn't seem too different from the Blue anyway.

"Jasper?" The bigger gem's attention was given instantly.  
"What?"  
Pearl was quiet for a moment, considering the ways she could say this. "You've been to Earth, right? What it like?"  
Jasper shrugged, looking out of the window. "There's a lot of colours compared to Homeworld. There's plants too. There's also huge oceans. I saw them when arriving at the Crystal Gems base."  
That reminded Pearl of the story she had began to imagine at the meeting.

 _'Jasper turned, eyes wide at the child who now lay on the ground. "You! You have the powers of Rose Quartz!"_  
 _She was about to grab the child when Garnet rose from behind him, her huge gauntlets over her hand. Light filled the area as Jasper summoned a helmet, using it to block the fusion gem's attack._  
 _"Run, my leader for it is our duty to protect you." She charged at the general again, aiming for the gem that rested in her face._  
 _Jasper whipped out a gem destabiliser, fear decorating the informant and the technician's faces. Right as Garnet was about to end this battle, a sharp feeling met her waist as she began to fell backwards. The shrieks of her companions amused Jasper as the fusion's body started to fall apart, two gems suddenly flying into the sand._  
 _"Rose. We finally see each other again. Your new form, whatever you're playing at, you've lost. You can't win now. This is just pathetic. I have won!" Her forehead met the child's face, knocking him unconscious.'_

"What are you smiling about?" Jasper had a brow raised, and a somewhat disgusted look on her face. Pearl had been staring again.  
"Just a story. It's dramatic and sounds very badly written, but I'm enjoying it." Pearl smiled to herself, trying to confusion and interest the other gem.  
"Oh really? What's it about?" Jasper smirked, leaning towards her.  
"An intense battle between gems." She replied sarcastically. It was hardly intense when you know what was going to happen and when scenes were described like that.  
"Tell me more." Pearl almost laughed at what she thought was Jasper's enthusiasm.  
"I would, but I think it's a little too-"  
"Hello passengers. This is your captain Olive speaking." A few things said by Iene were only mumbles in the background. "It is now safe to unstrap. Have fun."  
Jasper did so instantly, taking a huge gasp of air. Pearl took a little more time to take hers off, spending a minute to figure out how to. She stretched her back, clicking some of her bones. Jasper seemed a little grossed out by that.

"Do you want to go to the private rooms?" Jasper asked, not hiding how much she hated the room they were in. Pearl nodded, taking a final look out of the window. Stars were dusted over a dark sky. They were hard to see on Homeworld with all the lights on, though they were beautiful from here. She stared for a minute, Jasper rolling her eyes and pulling her out of her thoughts and out of the room.

"I think they're along here..."  
Pearl nodded, not really listening to what she said. She was too busy trying to catch a glimpse of the sky every time they passed a window. Jasper stopped suddenly, Pearl walking right into her arm. The bigger gem didn't seem to notice.  
"Here we are." She opened the door, showing a decent sized room. It was almost empty. Jasper double tapped the wall, a screen lighting up the window. She placed her hand on it, Pearl watching with confusion. Suddenly, the room transformed. There was now a bed in one corner, some training equipment in another. "Try it, P."  
"It's Pearl." She corrected, though she still wanted to try. Her hand was on the glass, the screen lighting up her palm. Pearl felt it would be appropriate to close her eyes to get it to work, though she was unsure what she was doing anyway. Her gem glowed dimly, light filling another corner of the room. A larger mirror formed, a light blue frame curling around the glass. She could see her whole body in it, though Jasper didn't really fit.  
"That was majestic." Jasper laughed, placing her hands on her hips.  
Pearl nodded. "Just how it should be."  
"I didn't expect anything else to be honest." Chuckles laced her words.  
"So, who's going to have this room?" Pearl looked up at the bigger gem who seemed to be taken aback.  
"This ship wasn't really intended for long missions. There's, like, two rooms."  
"I'm assuming Olive and Iene will share then? And you can have this room." Pearl was thinking for a second, before turning to walk out.  
"Why don't we share?" Jasper called after her, shrugging at her own idea.  
"What use would I have for it though? I don't exactly sleep..."  
"You tried _once_." Jasper rolled her eyes, resting her back down on the bed. "You could give it a second chance."  
"That'd be one chance too many, don't you think?" Pearl laughed, leaving and closing the door behind her.

 **JASPER**

This was never going to work. No matter how many times the plan was repeated, no matter how many times Jasper could try to tell her, Pearl would never understand how important it was for them to succeed. The dream had shown her more than she'd ever want to see. Now she could only assume that Pearl trusted someone who she'd never even met over someone she'd know for years. Jasper could see why though. That traitor hadn't hurt Pearl, though she had, and she hadn't apologised. Jasper couldn't go back and do it now. Pearl wouldn't accept her apology and would probably help the gems rather than just jeopardise the mission. Why did Yellow Diamond have to choose her of all Pearls?

Jasper told herself she was going to tell Iene and Olive where their room was, though she was really looking for Pearl. Maybe she could sort this out? She was unsure how persuasive she was, and she wasn't in the mood for having her gem destroyed.

She almost passed the control room. If she was going to tell the technicians where their room was, which was of course her only intention, she'd need to find them. They were probably in there. Jasper was about to enter, though she paused. She wanted to listen. Shouts were hidden under whispers, strange sounds coming from the room. Most of the words seemed to be from Olive, though Iene still spoke occasionally. ' _Please, we have things to do_ '. What was going on in there?

With no more hesitation, Jasper opened the door, eyes wide at the scene. Iene was pressed against the wall, trying to push Olive away. One of her robotic arms was pinned to the wall, though the other still tried to fight the gem who held her down. Olive's face was leaning in, whispering taunts between her grunts. Iene's denial of any relationship between the two suddenly made sense. Jasper could only stand and stare, unsure what to do or say as she watched an almost satisfied expression close in on the grey-green gem's face.

"Listen, Iene, you ungrateful little- Jasper?" Olive instantly let go of Iene, allowed the gem to breathe steadily again. There was no way to hide what was happening, though that wouldn't stop any attempts to. "We were just... Getting a little too intimate." She laughed nervously.  
Iene hugged her torso, not noticing Olive's need for her agreement.  
"What?" Jasper hissed, approaching the olive-green gem, looming over her puny body. Yellow Diamond would not be happy with her behaviour. She'd want to know of it immediately. This was an opportunity.  
"Jasper, please, it's not what it looks like! I was just trying to-"  
"Enough!" She threw her fist into the wall, leaving a dent. Olive backed away, eyes wide with her fear. "You'll get what you deserve."  
More punches were sent in the technician's direction, though she narrowly avoided them. Despite her clunky legs, she was still incredibly agile. She didn't not attempt to hurt Jasper though, which was for the best. She could only use defence tactics. Anything else would be too risky.  
Iene backed away into a corner, hugging her legs. Jasper tried not to let it distract her. She needed to destroy this gem.

Olive was getting to used to dodging Jasper's punches. She'd crack eventually. She couldn't keep jumping around like some kind of bug.  
Another missed hit. Jasper wasn't holding back anymore. Fists were swung towards the small gem, Olive kicking off a wall to avoid another punch.  
"Let's face it, Jasper, I'm just too- Ugh!" Her words were cut short, her ankle now between Jasper's hands. The desperation on her face was amusing. Jasper let her hang for a second as she struggled, unable to wriggle free. How pathetic. She threw Olive into the wall opposite them, a cry for help escaping the green gem's lips. She made this all too entertaining.  
"Jasper, please! You can't do this! I- it won't help anything!" Olive had one hand out, trying to use it to stop any more hits Jasper would throw. A bruise had formed on her face, blood dripping from her nose. Jasper smirked at how shocked Olive seemed about how injured she'd suddenly become. She had missed this satisfaction. She raised her fists above her head, not realising that an insane grin had begun a twisted dance on her face. All she had to do was kill this bitch and she'd go crazy.

"Jasper." That voice broke her from her thoughts. Pearl stood between a weak gem and a brute. She blocked Jasper's fists with the handle of her spear, not allowing her it hurt Olive.  
"What are you doing?! Do you know what she's done?" Any other attempt she made to destroy that pathetic little gem was met with Pearl blocking her fists.  
"I'm more concerned about want you're going to do." The spear was spun in the pale gem's hands before being helps right at Jasper's chest.  
"I'm just trying to do what's right!" She moved forward, trying to intimidate Pearl, though her attempts weren't working. The spear was lightly pressed into her chest. Why wouldn't she just let her help them?  
"Killing her will make the mission impossible to complete!" Jasper wouldn't listen to what Pearl said, not wanting to accept the truth. Pearl couldn't be right. She didn't even know of Olive's crimes. Didn't she care about Iene?  
"Then I'll just kill you too." Jasper raised her fists again, knocking the spear out of her hands and ignoring Pearl's sudden change in expression.  
"Jasper, please. It won't- I just wanted to-" She raised her hands, backing into Olive. "You need me for this mission too, I-"  
"You can be replaced." Only then did she realise that she'd lost herself. Tears filled Pearl's eyes, threatening to spill. She'd fucked up, and it wasn't even at that moment that she had. "Shit, Pearl, I'm sorry, I-"  
The pale gem lifted Olive so she could stand, dragging her away from the scene. Jasper was left with a panicking Iene, staring through the door that Pearl left through. Why couldn't she just control her anger? It couldn't be that hard. She just wasn't good enough for anyone, especially for Pearl.

"They're in the right hallway, approaching cell 6 if you want to find her." A soft voice broke through the silence. Jasper turning, looking at the small gem. She could go, of course, though Pearl wouldn't forgive her that easily. Instead, she sat down beside Iene.  
"How do you know?" Jasper raised a brow. Talking to Iene would not only comfort her, but help her get in Pearl's good books.  
A weak smile curled at the gem's lips and she looked away. "Magic."  
"Hm." Jasper leaned back, folding her arms over her chest. "That's such a detailed explanation."  
"Yeah."

Jasper wasn't sure how to reply, and silence consumed their conversation. Would it be okay to bring up Olive? It was going to be talked about eventually. Maybe it'd be a better subject for another day.  
"What are they doing now?" She decided that Iene's powers was a lighter subject.  
"Who?"  
"Olive and Pearl." Iene began nodding as she understood, Jasper nodding with her.  
A mischievous smirk played on the grey-green gem's face as she stood. "I'll show you."

Jasper stood after her, following her to the control pad by the window. Iene looked up to see if Jasper was watching before sticking her hands into it, her eyes lighting up with code.  
"What are you-?"  
"Shh." She squeezed her eyes shut. This gem was... _weird_ , but Jasper was interested.  
"Seriously though, what-?"  
"Jasper."  
The bigger gem raised her hands to her chest, not wanting to say any more. Iene's head shot upwards, a screen expanding over the window. White light escaped from her eyes, filling the room as images flickered on. It showed the room they were in, what they were doing right at that moment, and then it left through the door, like someone was filming as they explored the ship. Pearl and Olive soon became visible, the green gem taunting the other as she sat in her cell.

'" _Replaceable_ , huh?" A smirk was in her face, Pearl not as amused. "You're so sensitive."  
"Be quiet! You aren't exactly any bett-"  
"That's not the worst Jasper's done though, is it?"'

Jasper's eyes widened. She hadn't realised what a single technician like her could do. Maybe she couldn't do much with combat, though her words were effective. It was unsettling. Jasper knew exactly what she was referencing. How could she know about what she'd done to Pearl before? She didn't want Iene to find out.  
"Listen, Iene, if this is-"  
"I need to show it to you." Tears rolled from her white eyes, Jasper only catching a glimpse of them before she turned back around.

'"What would you know? You're just a-"  
"All the shards of jasper. All over her back." Olive grinned as Pearl's eyes widened.  
"How do you-?"  
"You really cared about her, didn't you? Shame she wasn't as grateful."  
"No... It was my fault. I-I shouldn't have-"  
"Oh, how _unfortunate_. You even took the blame for her mistake?"'

"Iene, you really can stop now." Jasper stood closer to her, only then noticing that the grey-green gem's arms shook. "Iene?"  
"I can take it. It's okay. I got this." Iene tried to managed some kind of smile, though her tears made it hard to believe. She seemed so desperate to show Jasper something, the bigger gem couldn't gather why. It was slowly getting more unbearable for the both of them.

'"You... You don't know anything about what happened that night!" Pearl had began to cry, still trying to speak as clearly as she could.  
"I know everything. You wanna know the best part?" She laughed, the thinner gem clenching her fists. "I know exactly what you thought about all of it."  
Pearl looked down, fighting back any more tears that built up. "You will never understand it. You can never have..."  
"Have what, huh? A huge bruise all over my back? Such a loss."  
"You can never have what me and Jasper could have." Pearl hissed. "Not even with Iene."  
Olive's chuckling grew into a huge laugh as Pearl turned to leave. "Iene isn't even-"'

The screen flickered away, Iene flopping backwards.  
"Woah, woah, are you okay?" Jasper caught her, trying to keep her steady. "Iene?"  
Her body exploded into smoke, her gem landing in Jasper's palms. She must have used most of her gem energy to show her that, and now she'd needed to rest. She still couldn't understand what was so important about what Iene was showing her, though she knew it'd be one of those sudden realisation moments. Right now, she'd rather help Iene out then worry too much about anything else.

Her room was empty. She didn't expect Pearl to be there, though it would have been a nice surprise. Maybe her expectations were getting too high. She rested the gem of olivine on her bed. It was a rectangle shape, though with smooth edges. She remembered that it sat between Iene's eyes, just above her nose. She'd need two beds. Ideally, one would have been for Pearl, though reforming on hard ground isn't fun, she knew from experience. Especially when reforming the first few times, she knew it was hard to land on your feet.


	6. Chapter 6

**JASPER**

She sat up, stretching her arms. Iene's gem sat on the bed, quiet and still. She'd reform soon. She'd need to if she didn't want the mission to fail. Jasper didn't give it another thought as she left the room, stretching her arms above her head. They were closer to Earth than Homeworld, though Earth was hardly visible. Stars decorated the sky, randomly placed across a dark canvas. It made her smile a little, though it made her think of Pearl too. They had problems to sort out, and she wanted to make sure that they were sorted before they landed. What better time to start than the present?

The cells were all empty except from one with a gem of olivine that lay in the corner of one. She couldn't guess what had happened, though she knew the gem belonged to Olive. It almost made her laugh. If she had tried to get past the field, then Jasper expected more from her. If Pearl had done it, then she was surprised that she even tried to. Reconsidering that, she wouldn't be. Pearl was able to hold her back from destroying the gem that was in the cell. She had a chance now, she could- no. She was going to speak to Pearl, and she assumed that she'd be in the other room.

It was hardly a lucky guess, though Jasper liked to see it as one. Pearl stood in the room, staring out the window at the stars. She didn't seem to notice Jasper's entry, which was strange. She hadn't exactly tried to be subtle. The orange gem waited for a moment, unsure if speaking would be a good idea. Well, if Pearl wasn't going to, she'd have to.  
"Pearl? I just-"  
"I know what you're going to say." Her head tilted downwards slightly. Was she just refusing to even look at Jasper?  
"What... ?"  
"You'll say that you're sorry but Olive did a terrible thing and I should have let you kill her."  
Jasper gulped. Though the last few words weren't as accurate, Pearl was almost right. She didn't realise that she knew her so well.  
"No, I-" She finished her sentence early as Pearl turned. Her eyes were completely white, showing no emotion.  
"I forgive you." Her face remained blank, Jasper reaching out to look at her. She placed her hands on her cheeks, a Pearl doing the same to her.  
"What happened to your eyes?" She tried to shake her head to get the thinner gem's hands to leave her cheeks, though Pearl insisted that they stay.  
"My eyes?" She questioned.  
"They're white, all white!" Jasper backed away as Pearl leaned in, glancing around frantically. What was she doing?  
"Come back."

A glance of thin fingers reaching for her was the last thing she saw before running out of the room. The hallway was in a terrible state. Wires had fallen from the ceiling, some left to dangle like broken branches. How was someone able to mess it in only a matter of minutes? The windows were decorated with open windows overlapping each other, numbers constantly flowing in with the word 'ERROR' in the top left corner. She couldn't even tell if they were in space anymore.

The Pearl stepped out of the room, staring at her at she turned a corner. What was wrong with her? Jasper thought she'd find comfort back in her room, though maybe that was a little too positive. Maybe Iene had reformed? No, that was too hopeful. Iene could be very slow, though after what had happened last night, she deserved to take all the time she needed.

She almost choked when she opened the door. She knew how wide her eyes probably were. She couldn't move, or speak. She couldn't even try to.

"Oh, hello Jasper. We were just getting a little too intimate." The green gem's words were dripping with laughter. She lifted the sword, sending it back into her gem.

Dark green blood. It slept in the bed; it climbed up the walls; it was worn on Olive's cheeks. She smirked holding Iene's gem between her fingers. It was turned slowly, showing off every edge, every smooth corner that it had. She placed it in orange gem's palms. Only then did Jasper realise how much she was shaking.

Olive stared at her intently, waiting for something that Jasper assumed would be terrible to happen. Her eyes began to narrow, a smirk curling at the edges of her lips. Jasper couldn't gather why she was looking at her that way, though the green gem keep leaning forward. She raised her hand slowly, Jasper following it with her eyes. She held it there for a moment, before clicking right in front of Jasper's face. The orange gem trembled back, the gem slipping from her hands and landing on the floor, shattered as if it was only glass.

She hadn't just... No. Olive burst into laughter, clutching her stomach as Jasper ran out of the room. She had made a horrible mistake. Returning to the messed up hallways could only make it worse. She grabbed her hair, pulling at it as she slid her back down a wall. She wished this could all just be over. Her hands covered her face, hiding her eyes from anything else that could happen.

"You're pathetic." A foot was pushed against the wall next to Jasper, startling her. "You manipulate people into doing what you want and then crumble once you smash a single gem. You're pathetic."  
"Yellow Diamond, I-" Pointed fingers grabbed her collar, pulling her from her sitting position. Diamond claws were summoned over the gem's fingers, her bright eyes showing her satisfaction. "Please, don't-"  
"You really are such a useless little thing. You didn't even have to do anything here, and yet you still failed. How tragic." She lifted her free hand, lightly gliding a finger over the almost-healed wounds around Jasper's eye. She then went on to her cheek, being a lot less careful that time.  
"Please. I can prove to you that I'm an asset, I-" Three clawed fingers were thrown across her left eye, thick blood heating her face. Jasper wasn't even given a moment to gather what happened before she was thrown to the ground, gasping for air.

She wasn't surprised, though she hated how it felt. Maybe Yellow Diamond could put a little more faith in her, though that would be a miracle. Instead she was left with scars to form and tears to fight. She killed Iene, Pearl was... Pearl was broken or something and Olive had even more ways to taunt her. It was all too much, and she couldn't figure any of it out.

"Jasper? I can't see, I-" She turned her head to see Pearl, stumbling around and feeling for another gem or for anything that could guide her. Her eyes were darker than before, a small crack in the off-perfect pearl on her forehead. Jasper stood, running to Pearl and offering her arms for the thinner gem to hold on to.  
"What happened? Your gem, it's-"  
"It's because of you."  
"... What?" She'd never hurt Pearl to that extent, and she didn't intend to. She stared right into the other gem's almost black eyes, not trying to hold back her tears anymore. She didn't want anything to end up this way.  
"You hurt me. You hurt the mission. You corrupted me!" Her fingers began to change into a darker colour, Jasper letting go of her arms and backing away. She just couldn't seem to get away from Pearl, no matter what she did. She couldn't escape her. The thinner gem reach out for her, pulling her closer, their faces almost touching.

"You are coming down with me."

―――

She shot up, frantically feeling her own face. No cuts that weren't old and Iene's gem sat untouched in the bed. It was safe to assume that nothing else had changed, though she could check. She picked up the gem on the bed - it was a little smaller than her palm - and took in a deep breath before leaving the room. The hallway was normal. That was reassuring.

She continued to walk, examining the gem in her hands. It felt weird that she wasn't told to destroy it. She'd never really just held a gem and left it that way. It was comforting knowing that she didn't have an urge to crush it either. Jasper began to wonder why she hadn't reformed yet. Lost in her thoughts, she almost dropped the olivine gem. That was one scene, out of the many, from her dream that she didn't want to recreate.

" _Jaspeeerr_... Don't you think that little gem is too fragile for you? You might just destroy it like everything else you touch."  
"Iene, you're pathetic. I am handling this gem with care." Jasper said proudly. She wasn't going to let the gem in the cell speak to her that way, but she couldn't let herself flip out again. It did raise a few insecurities though. She hoped she wasn't hurting Iene. That'd be bad for more that one reason.  
"At least I'm not using some else's poof to get myself ahead." She hated the smug look on Olive's face, and she hated that the green gem was partially right. She preferred to see Pearl's approval as a bonus to helping Iene, though it seemed to be the other way round.  
"At least I don't need to guilt trip someone into loving me."  
"Who loves you, huh? I don't think it counts if you pay the-" She cut Olive's words short by punching the wall near her cell, glaring right into the stupid little gem's eyes. She seemed to take a moment to react, though she backed into the corner and stayed there while Jasper left.

"Pearl?" She knocked on the door. No reply. Well, reply or not, she was going in. Pearl could try to stop her. In fact, Pearl could stop her, but Jasper wanted to talk to her and Jasper wasn't going to give up just then.  
She opened the door to Pearl, moving quickly from a corner. She had seemed to be doing something, though that thing was quickly hidden from Jasper's sight.  
"Did something happen?" Pearl asked, raising her brows with worry. She clearly wasn't excepting a visitor in the morning, especially not Jasper. "A-are you okay?"  
"Uhh... Yeah. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about yesterday. I honestly didn't mean it."  
"I know, I know, I understand." She looked away, sighing. "You can leave now."  
Silence. Pearl didn't react to Jasper staying, though an angered expression began to build up on the orange gem's face.  
"Ugh, this is so annoying. Can you not just forgive me?"  
"I- no, it's just-"  
"I'm just trying to do what's right for everyone!"  
Pearl seemed shock. Did she honestly think that Jasper had no feelings? Pearl always had to see the worst in her. She made a mistake. Maybe it was quite big, though her intentions weren't always about her own gain.  
"Why do you have to be so fucking difficult?" She brought a hand to her face, rubbing her eyes, trying to contain anything else she had to say. If she wanted to rant, that'd be enough. She couldn't take everything out on Pearl, especially if she wanted them to be some sort of friends.  
Jasper turned to leave, though small fingers pulled at her forearm. She turned, seeing Pearl with an almost guilty expression. If she wanted Jasper's sympathy, that wouldn't be a surprise, though she wasn't going to get anything close. Jasper feeling any form of sadness for another living thing? That was rare.  
"Jasper, your eyes..." She lowered her hand, looking at her feet. "Their red. Maybe you should wait until they're less puffy. You know, don't want to show any weakness in front of Olive. She can get pretty mean."

Pearl had decorated the room like the one she had back home. The patterns were incredibly similar, though she had decorated them with a dusting of stars. She seemed to find them very beautiful. She double tapped the wall, placing her hand onto the screen that grew over the window. Two comfy looking chairs formed with a table between them, all with shades of blue's and small hints of light pink. It suited her gem, though it wasn't as fitting for Jasper.

Pearl gestured for her to sit down, so she did. Maybe the chairs were a little too comfy. Jasper couldn't sit still for a second, trying to find the most comfortable position, none of them being overly flattering. Pearl sighed. Her posture was good and she took up as little space at she could. Her hands were neatly clasped over her thighs; her knees were parallel to her feet and to each other. Jasper was tempted to just lie across the armrests, but she knew Pearl wouldn't approve. She continued to try more seating positions, not realising how little they were speaking.

"So, Jasper, have you seen Iene? I haven't spoken to her since we began to take off." Pearl laughed nervously, clearly uncomfortable with Jasper's constant fidgeting.  
"Yeah, I seen her." She pulled the grey-green gem from her pocket, placing it on the table between them. The thinner gem appeared to be confused at why she had the gem, though she seemed worried too.  
"Did you... Did you hurt her?" Of course that'd be the first thing she'd think of.  
"She just used up too much energy. What did you mean by 'what me and Jasper could have'?" She raised a brow, a smirk playing on her lips. Pearl seemed even more confused than before.  
"I have no idea what you're talking about."  
"When you were talking to Olive yesterday, you said-"  
Pearl's eyes widened. "How do you-?"  
"Iene showed me." A small silence stole any more words for a moment. Pearl only seemed to get more and more confused with the more Jasper said. "It's hard to explain. When Iene comes back, she can show you."  
"Oh... Kay? How long has she been out?" Pearl picked up the gem, examining it. Jasper almost took it from her, worried that she'd hurt it.  
"A few hours or something. I dunno."  
"Is it her first time reforming? Maybe she's just taking her time. I did too the first few times, I mean-"  
"You didn't exactly take this long though."  
They both sighed, Pearl placing the gem back in the table and Jasper watching to make sure she was being careful. They were quiet for a while, eyes fixed to the gem in front of them in case anything interesting happened, though it didn't seem like it would any time soon.

"So..." Pearl's eyes shot up as Jasper began to speak, as if her mind was suddenly pulled from a dream. "What's your favourite colour?"  
"Light things." Pearl responded quickly, not giving any more attention to Jasper.  
"I like blue." She answered a question she wasn't given. Pearl smiled at this, leaning back in her chair.  
"Really? I thought you were more of the... Orange type."  
"Is that because I literally am orange?"  
"Well, no. You're red as well."  
Jasper chucked, rolling her eyes. It was a safe assumption, but it was wrong. They returned to their previous state of watching the gem very closely. Jasper couldn't understand how Pearl managed to sit so still for more than five minutes. This was painful.

"What did you mean?"  
"By what?" Pearl gave her even less attention than she did before.  
"By saying that we have more that Olive could ever have?" It was such a strange thing to say. Was she implying that she liked Jasper? Probably, hopefully not. But it would also hurt if she just said it for no reason. She didn't want her to just use her relationship to offend someone else. There was really no winning.  
"Oh, it meant nothing." _Ouch_. Pearl chuckled nervously after speaking, confusing Jasper. Did she enjoy sending mixed signals that honestly made no sense?  
"Why are you laughing?" She just seemed to be on a mission to make everything complicated. It was beginning to hurt a little more than it should.  
"No reason. It doesn't matter." Pearl had clearly realised that it was getting to Jasper. She was a lot more serious that time.  
"Pearl. Listen to me. Are you sure that was just nothing?" She really needed to know at this point. Pearl couldn't lie forever, and she couldn't use their messed up friendship kind of thing in an attempt to hurt someone else. It just wasn't going to work that way.  
"Jasper, I didn't mean that like we could be..." She sighed, making a strange hand gesture that Jasper didn't understand. "Together. I meant it more like that I know that we could get closer if we wanted to. I just..."  
"Pearl. Do you think I'm _bad_? Like, am I mean? Just be honest." She lifted Pearl's head, making sure their eyes met. She'd be able to tell if the smaller gem was lying that way. Or, at least, it'd make it easier to notice. Pearl wasn't exactly the best at covering things up.  
"I really don't. I know you make mistakes like everyone else and I know you can be better. You try and that's good." Pearl smiled weakly. Jasper wanted to believe that she was lying, though it all seemed so genuine. She found it hard to believe, so she didn't say anything. They just sat and continued to watch Iene's gem for another eternity.

Only so faintly, the little green gem began to glow. Pearl picked it up in her hands, her eyes lighting up with delight and she watched it rise into the air. A white body lit up the room, given Jasper a small headache. Pearl chose to watch intently as her floating fingers became visible. Her short hair burst from her head, taking a moment to settle down. She stayed there for a moment, her body gaining colour, before she fell to the floor.

"Iene!" Pearl rushed over to her, helping her stand. Jasper followed, though she only stood near of them rather than helping out. She didn't want to crowd the gem that had only just reformed. "Are you alright?"  
"I'm good. Just a rough landing." She laughed nervously, leaning backwards and stretching.  
"Well, welcome back. I need to ask, when will we-?"  
"Pearl. She just reformed." Jasper rolled her eyes. It honestly wasn't surprising that Pearl would choose to question her the moment she came back.  
"It's cool. So this is your room? Nice. I'm going to go check on the ship. You two have fun."  
"You're just going?! There's still so much more that I want to know!" Pearl called, running after her. Jasper chuckled at her impatience, though she didn't want to follow them. This was a good time to look around.

The room was nothing special. It was incredibly Pearl-y, with pretty colours and patterns wherever Jasper looked. She didn't really have anything interesting with a quick glance, so, of course, Jasper decided to find what she wanted herself. She turned over pillows and looked in certain spaces, though there was nothing. She'd seen Pearl hide something earlier, though she just could remember where she had been standing.

More rummaging, no finding until she felt pieces of paper... A book under some draws. Carefully, she pulled it out, glancing at the cover. It was light blue. How Pearl-ish. With no care for Pearl's privacy, she decided to flick through. Just a few doodles and scribbles of things Jasper couldn't quite make out, a few messy notes about the mission, or something like that. Longer pieces of writing, in bold letters above them. ' **Fusion** '.

She quickly scanned over the text, trying to read the notes. They were all about the technical points of fusion, the basics, the connection between gems, the synchronisation, she had so much information. Where did she get in from? She hardly noticed as her heart began beating faster, her hands shaking as she looked through all the reports. This was years of information, all in a small notebook Pearl wanted to hide. No matter what Jasper did, she couldn't take her eyes away, even though she hated what she was reading. This was everything that she knew was wrong, all gathered by the one person who really needed to stay in line. It was a crime.

Why didn't she stop herself? She honestly couldn't say. She only stumbled across more notes, not only on fusion in general, but on herself. Pearl noted that Jasper's stripes, Jasper's extremely tall figure, it all made sense that she could be a fusion. No. She was wrong. She had to be wrong. Her breathing had grown heavy. She still continued to read it. Then there was pictures of Pearl dancing with another gem. She had the whole thing planned out. She'd spin into the other's arms, who'd dip her gently then lift her into the air, only to bring her down and lean in and then their bodies would combine and ― she couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't let Pearl know things like this. Or, at least, she had to make sure there was no evidence that she did. The book wasn't staying in this room anymore. By the time they were leaving the return home, it'd be at the bottom of one of Earth's oceans. That was the plan.

 **A/N: Sorry this chapter took a while to come out! I wasn't motivated for a little while but hopefully I can get a good rhythm going again.**


	7. Chapter 7

**PEARL**

Questions were shot at Iene, a million in a minute, and she'd only answer three, all of which ending up being quite disappointing.  
"What about your powers?"  
"I can see things that are going on, is all."  
"How did Jasper know?"  
"I showed her."  
"Can you do it now?"  
"Busy."  
Pearl couldn't get anything more from the green gem, and eventually she left. There was nothing there for her anyway.

She passed Jasper in the hallway, who seemed extremely troubled, though Pearl couldn't tell why. When she said hello, the bigger gem walked straight by her, not even looking at Pearl. Had she done something wrong? When she had left Jasper, everything seemed fixed and well, though now they seemed to have fallen back to their previous state. Anything Olive said as she passed was ignored. She couldn't care less about her at this point.

Her room was the same as she had left it. Pearl wanted to make a few adjustments, probably take away the table and chairs knowing that she didn't need them anymore, maybe back everything into the walls a little so there was more space. It was great for dancing, there was just enough room. She could practice was she'd managed to conjure up a few nights before the mission. The perfect fusion. It was a nice distraction, and an even better idea. A perfect connection between gems, it seemed to be the perfect concept. Despite Homeworld's apparent hate for it, she knew she'd get a chance to do it at some point in her life. She hoped so, at least.

She reached her hand under the draws in her room, feeling for the book. Nothing. She hated having to put her head on the ground, anything could have been there, though she wanted to find the book. Her gem lit up, a hologram defining anything that was hidden in the dark. Nothing. Pearl stood up, clutching her hair. No, it couldn't be gone. That was years of information, all gathered into one notebook which had now disappeared. Maybe it was some kind of glitch thing with the room layout changing? She told herself that, not wanting to accept the truth. Someone had taken it, and mostly likely read it, and she wasn't going to last a minute back on Homeworld.

Turning, over and over that she'd always lose her balance or slip. No matter what she did, dancing could only make her feel worse, which was unusual. She could hardly walk without stumbling. The book was all she could think about, and she needed it back. It was obvious that Jasper had it. It would explain why she wouldn't talk to Pearl. How much had she read? Could she actually read at all? She wrapped her own thin arms around her torso, slumping down on the bed in her room. It reminded her of home. She pulled the blanket over her body, but it was cold anyway. Maybe that was because she hardly covered herself.

Walls of ice built around her, though only in her mind. It didn't feel like it was just her imagination. The temperature seemed to drop incredibly low. Her breath was like smoke, her tears freezing on her face. Her body grew tense, pulling the blanket over her body completely. It probably didn't make any difference. She brought her knees to her chest, more tears slipping from her eyes and freezing on her cheeks. She was probably losing body heat quickly, which was one of the what seemed to be many things her gem couldn't fix. She had trapped herself in a ball of ice and she might just be dying. Even if she did poof, her gem would freeze. Maybe that was just a little too optimistic.

"Pearl! The outlooks are positive for the... mission... Pearl?" The voice broke her from her imagination. It was Iene, of course. She remembered asking for any news about landing, and that was what she was given. Iene could clearly see something was wrong. Pearl wasn't exactly trying to hide it. "What's wrong?"

She sat down on the bed, Pearl looking away. As much as she wanted someone to notice that she was upset, she wanted it to be Jasper even just trying to comfort her. Iene didn't exactly have the book.

"It's nothing. Tell me about the mission." She pushed herself up, giving her attention to Iene who didn't seem to happy with that answer.  
"Are you- It doesn't matter. We will be landing in nine hours, not exactly, but almost." She continued to talk about the mission, though Pearl had stopped listening to her within a few seconds. Her mind drifted easily, and she didn't really need to know anything else that Iene said. She knew how long she had to figure out what she wanted to do. At this point, she was unsure how much she had to lose.

"Pearl? Did you get that all?"  
"Oh, yeah. Uh-huh." Iene sighed at Pearl's lie, but she didn't say anything about it. She wasn't really in the mood for a rant about everything she was doing wrong. She already knew.

Iene left, probably because Pearl clearly didn't want any conversation then. She decided to change the room design, maybe to something crazy or completely different from the world she knew. It wasn't like she'd be back anytime soon. Where was the one place she'd always wanted to be? She didn't think that would be such a hard question. She double tapped the wall, placing her had in the screen that formed. She still thought it was appropriate to close her eyes.

The walls lost their patterns, instead forming a dark audience. They were silent and still, mainly because they weren't real, but it didn't matter. She could hardly see their faces anyway. A stage rose from under her feet. There was a lot more space without the furniture. A minute was given to gather was she could see. It was perfect. She took a moment to stretch out her legs and back, clicking her bones and joints. A deep breath was taken in, 1 2 3, and out.

Prep, careful, engage your core, and up. She pushed herself into a fouetté turn, trying not to get distracted by the audience. She stepped back, throwing her head down to her knees and gripping her hair. Her emotions came naturally, she couldn't hold them back and she didn't have to force them either. She brought her body up, her head being pulled behind. Desperation took her smile as she reach for the audience. No response. She didn't except, nor did she want anything more. She straightened her back, taking in a deep breath and dropping into a middle split. It hurt a little, though she wouldn't let that show. She pulled her torso across the floor, closing her eyes and breathing heavily. She had to force herself to continue.

She rolled onto her back, lifting her stomach and chest into the air, though her neck stayed on the floor. She could only stay there for a moment before she rolled onto her stomach again. Another deep breath. She pushed herself of the floor, her toes pressed to the ground as her bent knees straightened. That hurt more than the splits, but it got her excited. She jumped once, laughing a little before jumping again. Her front leg was lower, though her back leg was curved, almost touching her head. It was like flying for a moment. Her landing was perfect as she arched back. For a minute she thought she felt like she was unstoppable, she loved every second. A two step run-up before she whipped her legs upwards keeping them straight. She believed she could perform a flawless aerial. She did, at least, before she slipped on her landing, holding back a cry of pain.

"Ah... Oh, shit..." She hated her word choice, though Pearl was sure this injury could hurt the mission like it had hurt her. She pressed around her ankle, grimacing. The quicker she could get attention for it, the better. Iene would be in the control room.

Olive, of course, noticed her limping. Pearl waited for some kind of insult, though the green gem stayed silent. That was unusual. She didn't look like she had anything to say in fact. It made Pearl smile to herself. She wasn't happy with having to argue whenever she left her room. It got old quickly.

"Iene?" The control room was the same, Iene sitting at the window. "Iene?"  
Pearl repeated her name, attempting to get her attention. She walked closer to the gem, holding the back of the chair Iene sat in to support her weight. She seemed to be very focused on her work. Looking at the control pad, Pearl had an urge to just stick her hand in. She almost did, though she looked at Iene, only then noticing the code in her eyes. It was like she had been possessed. Pearl wasn't going to get anything from her. She accepted that.

There was only one other person. She tried to walk away, though her injured leg wasn't being too helpful. She really didn't want to ask Jasper. She'd probably break Pearl's leg in an attempt to fix her ankle. That wouldn't be the worst she had done. Pearl would have knocked, but she couldn't. The door opened itself, Jasper standing quickly. She was holding something which she threw aside upon seeing her, though Pearl chose not to question what it was.

"What?" The orange gem didn't seem too happy to see her, or in general. Her eyes were red and puffy, her lower lips was bleeding a little. She had probably been biting it.  
"Iene's all... Well..." She made a few hand gestures, though even she didn't know what they meant. "I think I broke my leg."  
Jasper sighed, bringing her palm to her face. "Sit there. I'll go find something."  
The perfect opportunity. She walked around the room, wincing as she stepped forward. Jasper must have the book, there was no reason why she wouldn't. Pearl was sure she'd just seen her reading it. Where had she put it? She felt on the bed, the pillows. Underneath them, there was nothing. She thought that'd be the perfect spot to put them. Or, at least, it would be in Jasper's head. Maybe she was underestimating her.  
Underneath the bed. She felt around before ducking her head down, looking around. It took her eyes a while to adjust to how unusually dark it was down there. More feeling and attempts to look for something. She could feel something which wasn't just more floor. Moving her hand, she could see it. A blue cover, made navy by the shadow of the bed. Yes. She reached for it, almost touching it's hard covers though she was pulled away, held by her injured ankle.

"What the hell are you doing?" She turned her back to the ground, her ankle freed from Jasper's grip. "You didn't even hurt your leg, did you?"  
"No, no, I did! I just wanted to... To fix up your bed! It was messy, I-"  
"Why would you be underneath my bed then? There's not even anything down there!"  
Pearl tried to catch a glimpse of the book, though Jasper stomped a foot down in front of her eyes.  
"There-there was! I thought that maybe you knocked it off and that you'd-"  
"It's nothing you need to see."  
She tried to avoid looking at Jasper, though the bigger gem kept her eyes on Pearl's face. After a while, she sighed, picking the thinner gem up and plopping her onto the bed. Pearl stayed tense. The bed on her side lifted a little when Jasper sat on it.  
"Give me your leg."  
"What? _Why_?" Pearl turned, almost scared at why Jasper would need her leg.  
"The hurt one. I need to look at it." Oh. That made more sense. Jasper had a small box that she opened, looking through the pieces of equipment. A small screen, blue and semi-transparent, was what she pulled out. Pearl thought it was pretty. The bigger gem held it above the injured leg. A small x-ray loaded on the screen, showing the insides of her ankles. Her joints were dotted with small shards of a pearl, though Jasper didn't find this unusual. She messed around with the screen a little, eventually managing to bring up a screen showing her muscles. They were different shades of blue. How come she never knew that before?

"It's nothing worth worrying about. It'll be good in an hour." Jasper reached into the box for something else, placing the screen back.  
"So I can go...?" Pearl was ready to leave. She'd get the book back later.  
"No. There's one more thing and you need to stay still."  
"And then can I go?"  
Jasper looked a little uncomfortable. "... No. You need to stay still while the medicine works. You can't put any weight on it. At all. Go on the bed Iene was on."  
This was going to be yet another painful interaction. It didn't take much to figure that out. She lay on the bed, Jasper sitting near her ankle. She held a bottle which she shook before taking off the lid. It had a shiny container, which didn't seem too useful. It would slip out of Jasper's hands a few times before she managed to spray it on Pearl's ankle. A cold tingle was met with a burning feeling, running up her leg and body, from her shoulders to the tips of her fingers and all through her head. It was horrible.

Jasper sat back down on her own bed, falling back into what could be one hundred pillows. Jasper seemed to like them. They sat in silence for a while, trying to ignore each other. Pearl wanted to bring up the book, maybe even just ask for it back, though that wasn't going to end any better than it was going now. She could only sigh to break the thick wall of silence.  
"Jasper? Do you not have something you want to talk about?" She sighed, looking at Jasper. The striped gem sat on the edge of her bed. Her feet were able to touch the ground. With Pearl's question, she lowered her head.  
"As gems, we have nothing to talk about. As friends, we have even less." More bricks of silence were placed between them. She didn't realise that Jasper could be so poetic. It was quite amazing, and it almost took away how much those words hurt. Maybe her reaction was delayed, but it still had a heavy impact. She wasn't even sure if they could consider each other as friends sometimes. Where they had left off, before the book problem, they were fine. Maybe then they almost were friends. She really couldn't say.

"Doo, da-doo, doot da-doo." Pearl began to sing, waiting for a reaction from Jasper before actually singing any words. The bigger gem looked unimpressed. Good enough. She wanted to get rid of the silence with whatever it took, and quiet words seemed to work nicely. "You breathe the wind that runs through my hair. You split oceans, but only the ones on Earth because Homeworld is a little bare."  
"What are you doing?" Jasper hissed. Maybe her attempts to lighten the mood wouldn't work.  
"I'm singing."  
"I can see that. But why?"  
"It's very calming. You should try it." Pearl's suggestion was met with Jasper's laughter. She seemed to find that genuinely funny. Pearl couldn't understand why.  
"I don't sing. You'd see why if you heard me. I wasn't made for that bullshit."  
"Neither was I. I still do it." Pearl shrugged. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to hear Jasper sing. It was more likely than not that she was right and that her voice was terrible. It'd be interesting to find out either way.  
"Yeah, but you're a little delicate thing. You weren't made to smash the skulls of other gems."  
" _Delicate_? What do you mean by that?" Pearl smirked. The bigger gem's wording choice made her curious.  
"Like, you're all thin and your hair is pink and... Yeah, I'm not all about that wording." Jasper leaned back onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. There was nothing interesting about it.

"Jasper? Why can't we stay happy for more than a minute?"  
There was a pause. Pearl knew her question was risky. It took away the light mood that she'd began to grow between them. Her intentions were different, though they ending up with them, staring at a ceiling and asking questions that Jasper wouldn't want to answer.  
"I dunno. Because I'm stripy."  
"... What?" That answer was ridiculous. She could hardly gather what relevance stripes had to anything. If it did make anything different, it was that Jasper looked interesting and it make her stick out from the crowd. Jasper seemed to take it more seriously. She clenched her fists, shaking slightly. Pearl pushed herself up, watching Jasper carefully. Maybe stripes did play a bigger role than she excepted.  
"And it's because I'm tall and I'm strong and this and that. I didn't want to, I can't-" She stood, pausing, taking in a deep breath. Pearl reached out for her, though she didn't want to move her ankle. "I'm not a fusion Pearl!"  
"Jasper, I-"  
"Fusion is wrong! It's why Onyx and Jade are stuck together. Yellow Diamond didn't want them to. Now they can't even come apart! They're all gross and deformed. It's so fucking horrible." Jasper fell to the floor, pulling at her own hair. It was a habit they shared. She could she Jasper's shaking hands, the rivers of tears on her cheeks looking for an ocean. She was a huge mess all over the floor.  
Pearl slipped from her bed, lifting her knees onto the floor and pulling herself towards Jasper. Maybe it was a little dramatic, but she didn't want to put any weight on her ankle. Finding a comfortable position wasn't as easy as she wanted it to be, but she still sat with Jasper, holding her hands. It was hard to see how much they shook until she actually felt them. The bigger gem almost collapsed onto her when Pearl offered a hug. They both wrapped their arms around each other's back, sometimes tightening their hold and sometimes letting it become looser. Pearl wasn't sure when they were going to let go.

"We'll get through this. Everything will work out." She almost cried herself seeing Jasper breakdown. It hurt in a way she couldn't really understand.  
Her words were only met with a few snuffles, making her smile a little. Pearl began to stand, Jasper doing the same. Her ankle felt fine now. They sat on the bed, Jasper still sniffling occasionally, and Pearl still holding her shaky hands. Leaning into each other, they stayed there for a while, looking through the window. It showed stars and Earth, which only grew closer. She tried to ignore the mission, though she'd have to face it eventually.  
She sang softly, continuing to soothe the bigger gem. Jasper seemed to enjoy more than she did earlier. Pearl just couldn't bring herself to leave. That was only because she wasn't sure if Jasper felt better yet. No other reasons.


	8. Chapter 8

**JASPER**

They needed to rest. The ship was to land later that day, and they couldn't tire themselves out over a few words. Pearl slept in the same bed, pulling the covers away from Jasper. It wasn't much of a problem. They had two beds, which meant they had two blankets. She stood, going to sleep in the other bed, though she glanced over at Pearl. A hologram flickered on, displaying a few vague colours. Jasper waited, watching to see if a dream was going to happen, though she knew she'd regret watching whatever would play.

Another falling dream, sinking. She'd caught a glimpse of one before, but it got boring quickly. Jasper had fallen asleep when it first happened. She didn't want to watch it for much longer, but she didn't want to leave Pearl to just sink. So, with no shame, she slipped into the same bed as the thinner gem. She avoided touching Pearl, even if Jasper took up a lot of the space. It was okay. Letting her eyes close over time, she watched the shades of blue Pearl's hologram showed. Overtime, they grew a little closer as they slept, mostly because Pearl decided to lean right into Jasper. That was _fine_.

Jasper woke up a little later, only to be alone. The blankets on the bed were straightened, placed neatly over her body. They weren't given half as much respect as Jasper sat up, pushing them off of her legs and almost off the bed. Why did Pearl have to be so fucking complicated? It had reached the point were it wasn't interesting, but really annoying instead. The worst was that she was starting to worry about letting go of the defect.

"Jasper, we need to get ready to go to Earth. We have an hour till the predicted landing time." With leaving the room, she was instantly given information that she didn't realise she needed to know. Iene seemed to be waiting for response eagerly.  
"Okay. Where's Pearl?"  
The green gem seemed disappointed with that. "She's going to be getting Olive to the control room so we can prepare the ship for landing. Just wait for a little bit. You'll be going to the... The launch room thing in about thirty minutes." And with that, she walked away, not giving Jasper any time to respond. If she was going to be honest, she'd say how much she hated they way Iene spoke to her as if she was at a higher level, with all the rules and guidelines. It wasn't like she cared much for them anyway.

She continued to look for Pearl, which took little effort. She was only around the corner, guiding Olive to the control room, spear in hand. A quick glance was given to Jasper, a light blue blush blossoming on her cheeks as she looked away. She looked sad. Jasper decided to follow them, tapping Pearl's shoulder when they reached the control room.

"Pearl, we need to-"  
"Jasper, I'm busy right now." The thinner gem seemed to be avoiding looking at her, which hurt. Only a little.  
"We need to talk. Before the landing, at least. I just... Earlier was..." Jasper searched for words, unable to end her own sentence.  
"Earlier was nothing. We were just..." She sighed, turning away. "We need to forget about it all."  
"But-"  
"You need to forget me, Jasper." Pearl disappeared into the control room with Olive, leaving Jasper to try and figure out why she was so cold all of a sudden. She hadn't realised how dysfunctional they were until a little earlier. Why had it taken her so long? She really couldn't say. One minute, they hugging and laughing, and the next, they were back to acting like nothing ever went right. Maybe it was all the secrets they couldn't share, all the differences they had, the book filled with fusion information. Ugh, fuck that book.

Walking back to her room, she began to think. Pearl had probably taken the book back when she had the chance, though Jasper wanted to check anyway. Getting rid of it wouldn't be hard once they were on Earth. There was plenty of water to drop it into. It wasn't like Homeworld. A lot of the planet was still covered in natural life, technology and cities only taking up a small part of it. It was almost interesting. Then again, Jasper didn't really care for that. She knew that Yellow Diamond was only interested in growing gems there, but she didn't know any intentions from those of a higher standard.

The mirror Pearl had summoned still sat in the corner of the room. Jasper stood, not fitting her whole figure in the reflection, but she could see enough of herself. She was very big, as Pearl had noted in her book. She did have stripes, another point. She was pretty strong, true, almost as strong as the fusion she had fought. At least, she liked to think that. Pearl had based all her points on the obvious qualities of Jasper. There was one though was clearly missing though, and that was a second gem. She found that a little reassuring.

The book was the real reason that she had came. She checked under the bed, right where she had left it. There it lay, untouched. Why hadn't Pearl just taken it? Jasper didn't want to look at the pages, she hated every word, so she was quick to shove it into her legging pocket. For a minute, she was quiet, looking around the room. She figured that she could just leave it the way it was. She'd be flying back to Homeworld soon enough anyway. There was one last thing at popped into mind. From the wall, she pulled a gem destabiliser. It would come in handy for Pearl.

She waited around the room with the four chairs, sitting in the same place she had before. Jasper could only wait for Pearl to come so she could give her the destabiliser. Homeworld was now just another star in the sky. Jasper could hardly tell it apart from the others. They all just looked the same. From Homeworld, Earth was hardly a dot. It was hard to see it, mainly because it didn't create any light itself, but also because it was such a small planet. At least, comparing it to Homeworld, It seemed to be.

Twenty or so minutes passed. Jasper had grown impatient. She'd constantly fidget with pretty much anything, and she couldn't sit still, which was nothing new. The door opened. Jasper looked up, about to speak, though Olive walked in instead. Jasper had no interest in talking to her. Ashamed and disgusted expressions were exchanged, Olive sitting in the same place as before. Behind Jasper, where she belonged.

A little more waiting, Jasper was bored out of her mind. There was no way she'd even try to communicate with the gem behind her. She needed, or at least wanted, to give Pearl the destabiliser. She couldn't risk failing the mission, and she couldn't make it any easier for the Crystal Gems to take Pearl down. As much as she didn't want to leave Olive unattended, Pearl was more of a priority.

Iene was just leaving the control room alone. She knocked into Jasper's arm, holding it for a moment to get her attention.  
"Pearl's in there just so you know. She'll be a minute. You might want to just... Never mind." Yet again, Iene didn't give Jasper any time to respond before walking away. Jasper couldn't understand the green gem. She was so... confusing. Then again, what wasn't?

Slowly, as if it would crumble with her touch, Jasper opened the door. There stood Pearl, staring out the window. She didn't even notice the striped gem enter, which wasn't unusual. As Jasper approached, Pearl's whispers became more clear.  
"I didn't think it'd be this soon. But it was going to come either way. What if fails? Well, I... I can't fail if I don't try." It was like she was having a conversation with herself. One hand was over her mouth, like she was considering this all very deeply.  
Jasper cleared her throat, touching the pale gem's shoulder. "Pearl?"  
She whipped round, pushing a breathy laugh from her lips. "Oh! Jasper? I didn't see you come in, I..."  
"Listen, this is important, okay?" Jasper pulled the gem destabiliser from her waist, folding it up so it was only a very small metal pole. "Use this to... Uh, y'know..."  
"How do I..."  
"Oh, you just flick it out. It's... It's pretty cool."  
Pearl tried to do it herself, a little scared when it worked. She folded it back down, light emitting from her gem as the weapon lifted from her hands, disappearing into her gem. "I think I'll keep it in here for now."

Pearl followed Jasper to the control room, never looking at the bigger gem whenever she glanced back at the thinner. No matter how hard she tried, Jasper couldn't just pass what Pearl had done for her earlier off as nothing. They sat in the same chairs as they did when they launched, and Iene counted down as the ship began to speed up. The sudden impact of the ship shot Pearl's head back just like before. Jasper watched closely as Pearl was rocked around, though she seemed to have the same expression. She never took her eyes away from the ground. Jasper swore that, even just for a moment, she heard sniffling. She couldn't do much, but she could help either way.

Jasper looked away, reaching for Pearl's hand. Only the did she realise how much it shook, even with the ship's constant movement. Only when she glanced back, she saw the pale gem looking at her, surprise being painted over her sad expression. Jasper waited for a moment, glancing way again, only becoming sure that Pearl had accepted her hand when their fingers met. The two hands hung between the chairs, unable to stay still for more than a second. They could only thank the landing process for that. Maybe, just for once, Jasper wanted someone to stay. Just a little.

 **A/N: Sorry that this chapter is very short, I didn't want to have to switch POV three times in one chapter. Also sorry I took ages to update. :V**


	9. Chapter 9

**PEARL**

They're hands had only parted to let Iene pass through so she could go to the control room. They quickly touched again, though this time it was Pearl reaching for Jasper. It was comforting knowing that Jasper was with her, and would be, at least for that moment. In fact, it almost felt like the orange gem cared about her, not that she'd really know what that felt like anyway.

Pearl was jerked back with the ship landing. It was dark outside. A little light from the ship showed long, thin blades of grass, which Pearl had never seen before. At least, not in a natural environment. Iene returned soon after, beckoning for them to stand and follow her. Jasper and Pearl's hands stayed together, Olive trying to push past them. The defect noticed a threatening look sent to the green gem from Jasper, ignoring Pearl's disapproval.

Through the corridor, approaching the exit. It seemed to take so long, though the halls weren't too lengthy. Pearl took in a deep breath, exhaling after a few seconds.

"It'll be okay, P." She looked up, her eyes meeting with the stronger gem's. "I can call you that, right?"

The slim gem was silent for a moment, considering that. It wasn't too bad. "I guess."

"Good. I think it's an easy alternative." Jasper chuckled, Pearl joining in with light laughter. She really didn't understand the joke.

Iene paused, turning to them and extending an arm out. Every gem there slowly stopped as well, Pearl glancing up at Jasper's serious expression. She then looked forward. A wall. She remembered coming in through there. Stairs were engraved in the wall, upside down and the moment, though they would be useful when exiting the ship.

The wall began to lower, a series of clicking and other strange sounds, almost like grinding, accompanying it's movement. Pearl's grip on Jasper's hand tightened. She could feel her breathing grow more rushed. Jasper could only hold her a little closer to ease her panicing. Pearl understood. They needed to forgot about each other and get on with the mission. It was the only reasons they were there, of course, though that wasn't any more relaxing to think about.

"It'll work out, Pearl." Jasper said, her words hidden under a breath. Pearl glanced up at her wide eyes, a bright yellow colour. The taller gem had her own concerns, Pearl knew that, though she was usually neck deep in her own. Sometimes she thought it'd be better if she was the one comforting another gem, though it never seemed to happen. She just couldn't help but believe that Jasper wasn't telling Pearl, that it'd work out, but instead she was telling herself.

"I know." She squeezed Jasper's hand as hard as she could, just for a second, before exhaling. "I know."

Maybe there was some form of excitement to it. There was a whole other world, right at her fingertips. Maybe it'd be nice to stay there for a little while, just before she left with the other Pearl, destroying the team that wanted to protect the Earth. Pearl gulped. She had never looked at it that way. She never say it as contributing to the destruction of a planet.

"Okay, good luck, Pearl. Stick to the plan you guys. Jasper, if you aren't back in two hours, we'll have to assume that the mission has failed in some way and then we'll contact Yellow Diamond." Anything more Iene would have said was ignored by Pearl. Her eyes, blue eyes, widened at the sight of this new world. It was amazing. A moon hardly lit up the sky. It was just a little curve. Pearl began to walk forward, Jasper pulling her back.

"Well, I guess you are eager to go. Like I said, good luck, and don't fail the Diamond Authority."

Jasper began to walk. To Pearl, Jasper had taken a while to finally do so, even if it had only been a few seconds. Pearl was desperate to see and touch almost everything on this planet that Homeworld didn't have.

"Do you think that they..." Iene whispered to the other gem of olivine, who instantly understood what she was asking. A shrug was the only reply.

The grass swayed gently in the field, blown by a late night breeze. Pearl hardly needed to reach down to the feel the taller blades of grass, though Jasper was pulling her along anyway. Her constant need to touch every new flower or plant they saw probably got pretty annoying very quickly. After a little walking, a huge ocean became visible. If Pearl could look any more amazed, she would have. Glancing up at Jasper, she noticed her almost blank expression as the bigger gem sat down. That was the first time's their hands had left for a little while.

After a minute or so, Pearl sat down as well. They both looked out at the sea, Pearl glancing at Jasper occasionally. The thinner gem was unsure why they had stopped walking, but she was also unsure how to ask why. Instead, they just sat for what could have been forever, looking out at the ocean. A big, blue void.

"I've never seen that before." Pearl whispered, trying to ease the silence away.

"I haven't seen it much either." Jasper replied, sighing lightly. "I've never got a chance to properly look."

Pearl nodded, letting the silence slip back into their mouths for a moment. "I like the plants."

"Yeah?" Jasper smiled weakly at the pale gem.

"They're fascinating." Pearl reached out to touch a small flower, tinted grey by the moonlight. "And very pretty."

"Uh huh." Jasper nodded a little.

Pearl reached a little further out, wanting to touch almost everything there was. She scooted away from Jasper, almost sitting on the blue-grey flower. A small bush, made of fuzzy leaves with jagged edges, almost like newly cut fabric. She was yet to feel one of them. The face of the leaf was nice, a little like a small blanket. A very small blanket. She then went on to touch the edges. A violent sting shot through her fingers, causing the jump back, shaking her hand to try to relieve the pain.

"…Pearl?"

"The plant hurt me."

Jasper raised a brow for a moment, confusion evident on her features, before she looked for annoyed. The taller gem stood, walking over to the bush. Pearl followed her with her eyes, reaching out for her in an attempt to stop her.

"Wait, what are you doing?" The bigger gem knelt down, both glancing at the plant, then each other, and then the plant again. For a moment, they were still and silent, as if they were waiting for the plant to move. Jasper might just have been. It looked that way to Pearl. Suddenly, the striped gem raised her fist, throwing it into the centre of the bush. Within a second, her expression changed from anger to pain as she held her wrist, shaking her hand violently.

"That bush is a fucking bitch." The striped gem said through gritted teeth.

"What did you expect?"

"I just wanted to fight it. Such a pathetic being. It hardly even tries to show its strength." Jasper hissed, standing. Pearl looked at the plant, leaning in so she could see every corner and edge it possessed.

"You don't need to look strong to be strong." With little thought, she caught the warrior's attention.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I guess I just mean that it's fine to look weak, because you-"

"No, it's not. I don't think you really get this whole 'strength' thing."

Pearl paused, reconsidering what she wanted to say for a moment. Well, there was not much at stake anyway. "Maybe _you_ don't get it." She shrugged, reaching to touch the sharp edges of the leaves. The sting didn't bother her as much that time.

"What do you know about strength? You're just a-" Jasper paused as Pearl turned to her. The defect waited for her to finish, knowing what the striped gem would say. Instead of continuing, Jasper looked away. "It doesn't matter. Sorry."

Jasper sat down, looking over at the ocean. Stars glittered in the sky, their reflections distorted in the water. Pearl took a while to join her, though she did eventually. She preferred to ignore the mission for the time being, but she knew that Jasper would bring it up eventually. She had started caring less for the losses that would come with failing the mission, and more for the losses that she was contributing to. Like the loss of this planet.

"Do you..." Jasper instantly took interest in what Pearl was saying. "Do you ever feel like these other planets have worth?"

The pale gem watched as the warrior stared into the sky, deep in thought. "Yeah. I guess they all do. I mean, the humans here-"

"Humans?"

"You know, the little weak fleshy beings that roam this planet?"

"... No. I-I didn't. They didn't tell me anyone lived here, the gems aside."

Jasper just nodded, looking away. Pearl did the same, her eyes returning to the sea they were once looking at. She couldn't look at it as peacefully as she could before. Thoughts, a million in a second, rushed through her mind, ones that she couldn't just push away. Pearl just couldn't understand why Jasper could shrug off the fact that they were, most likely, going to hurt many living things. Except she almost could. Snooping around, trying to get the facts on fusion; she was almost guaranteed to hear something a little more important than that.

"Jasper? Could you tell me about..." Pearl paused, glancing away as Jasper looked at her. "About the gem wars?"

A displeased expression was painted across the striped gem's face. Pearl could understand that.

"They weren't good. There."

Pearl lowered her brows. "That's hardly even information."

"But it's all I got." Pearl could tell Jasper knew more, her body language could only add to that. Jasper hadn't said much about the gem wars, it had mentioned being there, a few times back home. Pearl wouldn't disregard that so easily.

"Listen, P, Pearl-o, you really don't want to know this kind of stuff." A sigh was lacing her words, the 'f's trailing. Pearl paid close attention to her voice, trying to find some kind of information from it, though she wasn't sure how she'd do that.

"I do." The thinner gem said, her words hardly slipping through her breaths. Jasper only grunted in response.

The bigger gem stood, lifting Pearl with her carefully. They had been sitting there for a while, Pearl didn't want to question why they wouldn't just move on. Olive and Iene were probably waiting. She was waiting too. Maybe not for the same thing though. She didn't want to call Jasper out on how slow she was moving. Maybe is was all just her way of getting things done? Pearl wouldn't know.

"We should go. I think you've already poked everything around here anyway."

"Well, technically speaking, I really-" She paused upon seeing the unimpressed look of Jasper. So Pearl decided to shake up her words. "I haven't poked you yet."

"How scandalous." Sarcasm almost dripped from Jasper's voice. "Just poke my arm."

So Pearl did, lightly prodding a red stripe on the warrior gem's arm.

They began to walk, Jasper holding Pearl's hand again. A light blue blush blossomed on her cheeks, fading as she looked at the sea. She kept her eyes on the waves, so beautiful to her, she only really noticed when she was being pulled away from them. They were so dark under the moonlight, yet she preferred the sea to be that way then whatever it was like in the day. She didn't really have any reference to compare the dark ocean to a light one. She just assumed.

There was a moment while they walked. Pearl hadn't been looking at all, of course. She preferred looking at the ocean than the path to her possible destruction. Her foot has decided to collide with a rock, and she tripped. Who had put that there anyway? In a split second of struggle, Jasper managed to grab her, almost being pulled down with the paler gem. After a pause, there came awkward lifting each other up and almost tripping again. Pearl wouldn't have minded as much if they weren't about to see each other for what she assumed would be the last time.

 **JASPER**

It was so strange, not pulling her companion around. She was used to it after most of missions. All the tight grips, pushing other's around, shouting almost constantly, Jasper had gotten used to it. While Pearl, she couldn't really imagine doing that. Yes, she had hurt her, but in a week a lot had happened. In a week, another week, such a small, insignificant time compared to the rest of her life, she'd grown to like the defect. She was just a little bit more likeable than pretty much everyone else Jasper knew.

"Listen, Pearl, be careful." They continued to walk along the beach, the thinner gem running her fingers over the cliff edge.

"I will be."

"No, well, yes, but I mean that you need to just... The fusion is pretty big. Obviously."

"Yeah?" Pearl smiled weakly. "Was she bigger than you?"

"Bigger than _me_? Ha. I don't think anyone in bigger than me. What world are you living in?" Jasper laughed, unsure of she was easing Pearl or making her uncomfortable. "Anyway, there's also a little runt, purple-y colour, she'll hardly be a problem."

"Uh huh?"

"Then there's..." She was disgusted at the thought of... _it_. "You know, Rose Quartz's new form. Like some kind of child. I'm sure that she's very weak, she'll hardly be a-"

"She's like a child?" Pearl seemed slightly worried at that, which concerned Jasper.

"Yes. You knew that though." At least, she thought Pearl did.

"Oh, uh, yes, of course. I did, but I just..." She paused, never finishing her words, even if Jasper waited for them.

"You should be able to access the other Pearl's room just fine. Iene and Olive have set up plenty of distractions. Y'know, robot kind of things, most, if not all, aren't programmed to actually do anything." Jasper continued to ramble on, her voice fading as she realised a Pearl wasn't listening. The gem looked like she was in deep thought, Jasper watched her intently, just to see if she would do anything. Their hands slipped away from each other, causing Jasper to sigh lightly. She didn't want to keep upsetting Pearl. It seemed to be the only thing she could actually do correctly though.

She couldn't help but feel uneasy around water. Jasper couldn't say why, it was almost a déjà vu like feeling. She'd hardly been near the water though. It didn't make sense. It had led her to the assumption that it was because of that water gem, the one she'd usually call brat before. She didn't feel as much of a need to now, being around Pearl. The slim gem was almost calming in a weird, nonsensical way. Did Jasper like that? She really couldn't say.

Jasper placed her arm in front of the pearl, just as they reached a huge rock, it's shadow looming over their puny bodies. The small beach house was now in sight from some angles. The huge temple? That was a lot easier to see, no matter where you stood at that point. Pearl only seemed to notice it then, looking up at it in awe. It was pretty impressive, being able to look at it without the distraction of trying to get rid of a few gems. The fusion it was based on was much more impressive in person than in stone though.

She would have happily have just stood there, not moving, time not passed. That would be fine. She had little faith in the outcome of this mission anyway, whether Pearl managed step one or not. It wouldn't matter. Either way, she'd figured that Pearl wouldn't make it back. Another Pearl would take her place, not really talking to Jasper, not decorating it's room, maybe not even dancing or dreaming. She'd like to tell herself that she'd only miss the small conversations, but Pearl was more than just small conversations. And she was much more than just another replacement.

Just as much as Pearl seemed reluctant to leave, Jasper was reluctant to push her on. She'd given Pearl plenty of opportunities, why didn't she just take them? Then again, no matter what Pearl you'd talk to, they never seemed to accept help. With the Pearl she knew, it was a little more personal. There really was no history that could lead to her being that way, but there was something. It was hard to gather how complex she was after only realising that she was different days ago.

Jasper watched as Pearl sniffled, her chest hurting a little as the servant gem wiped a tear. Jasper knew, she was trying to hide that she was crying way too hard, it only did the opposite of what she wanted it to do. Just a little, it hurt to see her so sad. Jasper would usually see it was weakness. Maybe it was weakness. Maybe, every time Pearl cried or made her cry, she was showing more and more sensitivity, one of the many things she was supposed to disregard completely. Maybe Pearl was a weakness as a whole.

Then again, Jasper would probably disregard that, just like how she'd disregarded emotions.

"So this is how it ends, huh?"

Pearl shifted around, looking up at Jasper.

"You just go off now. You just go off now." The taller gem shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant, like she didn't care. A huge lump formed in her throat though. It gathered with the tears in her eyes that she pushed back. She knew she had more self control than to just sit and cry over… well, she couldn't call Pearl nothing.

"I… I guess so." The light gem whispered, turning back to the house.

"I'll never see you again." Jasper said quickly, unsure if she regretted her words or not.

"Now, Jasper, there's no need to be so pessimistic."

"People don't get sent on these missions to come back. They never do."

Their words fell soundless and their faces grew sad. Breathing was heavy, inhaling as a wave rolled in, and exhaling as it was pulled away. She could almost hear the stars in the sky's twinkling. She had decided that was possible.

There were limits. Limits to how empty the air could be, limits to how empty Jasper could feel. It was horrible how Pearl just seemed to take everything she was told to be and throw it away, like a used toy. It was almost torture, but she could withstand it. Maybe she even enjoyed it. It was hard to say, especially in a situation like this one.

Giving it a little thought, Jasper realised there were multiple flaws in the plan. She had kind of figured, knowing that she'd be involved, that it really wasn't vital. It was hardly a priority. They probably noticed the holes, but didn't care enough to fix them. That, honestly, wouldn't be much of a surprise. She'd be more shocked if they had actually patched up and figured shit like that out. What if 'Pearl 2' wasn't alone in her room? Or what if the Rose kid thing saw Pearl, or showed her true form? That was something she didn't want to think about.

"Jasper, I'll come back. No one can stop me from trying." The words Pearl said grew stronger as she spoke, a determined smile fading away from her face as she continued. "I promise. Whatever happens, I'll stay alive."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just know."

Jasper smiled weakly, Pearl doing the same before the stronger gem pulled her into tight embrace. She had to lean down a little to even try to match Pearl's height, and she tried to push her hair out of the slimmer gem's face. It would be a shame for her to drown in it, and so soon.

The small Pearl dug her face into Jasper's shoulder, the thinner gem's fingers tangled in the masses of light hair she had. Jasper wanted to do the same, but she was unsure if Pearl would mind, and with her height, it'd probably be uncomfortable for both of them. Instead, she stayed still, as still as she could, which was hard. She usually fidgeted constantly, unable to stay still for more than a minute. She could say that she felt a lot more comfortable in this position though, she didn't want to lose that nice feeling.

The breathing, the wave's constant roaring, it was all she could use to tell where she was with her eyes being tight shut. Her hold on the gem had become looser quickly, though she really did have any intentions of letting go just yet. She wanted to enjoy the calm before the storm. It was something she had learnt not to waste through her hundreds of battles.

Hours, months, maybe even a few years, could have passed and Jasper would hardly notice. She wanted to relive the best moments of the past weeks, over those few years. Just skip the bad things in-between, and let it repeat. She'd hardly care. She'd be more happy to just relay it, over and over with no change, than she would be to just finish everything there.

The gentle wind whistled, trying to harmonise with the tide's continuous roaring. The silence that stole words was filled with the sound around them. While Homeworld may have had a lot more noise around the cities, it's silences could never be this loud. This place… it really was a lot nice than Homeworld could ever try to be. Mission or no mission, Pearl deserved to be here more than she deserved to stay back where there wasn't even the smallest blue flowers.

Jasper was ready to let Pearl go. She told herself that, before a wistful voice, lacing the wind's whispers, finally spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Jasper."

The bigger gem was given no time to replay, not even half a word could be said before Pearl's slender fingers were ripped for her hair, a sudden pain thrown into her stomach. She could hardly gather what had happened, clutching her abdomen, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to cope with the pain that had suddenly hit her. Glancing around the beach, she took a while to notice Pearl running the way they came, her eyes a little blurry with shock. The sound around her seemed distorted itself, waves no longer roaring, but instead screaming, the wind's whispering becoming heavy ringing. Heavy breathing, almost choking on the air, she reached out to Pearl, who only glanced back. Her face was painted with panic.

Jasper didn't know why she ran after the servant gem. She couldn't tell if it was to understand why she did what she did, or if it was to get the gem to where she was meant to be. She couldn't tell if she was angry at Pearl, or if she was upset, or maybe just confused. Whatever emotion, it was in huge amounts. It drove her to follow Pearl right off the beach and back up to the mountain with the blue flowers and evil bushes, into a thick forest.

Thin trees grew thicker, the further she ran, a winding forest. Pearl wasn't in sight anymore, Jasper could only rely on her senses to find her. They'd been running for so long, Jasper almost forgot about her goal. That was, until the figure of Pearl came into sight. Jasper didn't hesitate to try and grab her, though her red hand shot right through the blue figure's chest. A moment of disbelief as the Pearl twitched, her body suddenly bursting into triangles. It was only a hologram. That was almost a relief, but Jasper was still terrified. Maybe not so much about how she'd thought that she'd poofed Pearl. It was more about Yellow Diamond.

Water soaked through to her knees as she fell to the damp ground of the forest. Her hand was still raised slightly, she still stared towards where the hologram had stood. The wave's screaming was no longer within her hearing range, but the rustling of the leaves decided to sound like scratching and shouting. Yellow Diamond's voice, clinging to her mind as Jasper gripped her head. She probably didn't even notice that she was screaming.

 **A/N:** I'm sorry the chapter came out so late, but i hope it was worth the wait. The spacing is a little weird because I wrote it on my laptop, hope that isn't too much of a bother.


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